Offshore Wind Letter to President Obama

by: Rosi Efthim

Tue Mar 08, 2011 at 04:11:41 PM EST

As gas prices slide upwards almost by the hour, even here in low-gas tax New Jersey, it's a good week for President Barack Obama to be opening his mail.

The president just got a letter in support of the "homegrown clean energy source" the signers say offshore wind off the Atlantic Seaboard is. The signers - politicians, environmental groups and others - are from nearly 3 dozen environmental, conservation, research and health organizations, plus electeds from up & down the East Coast. The letter asks for a "bold goal" for wind development, and standards to protect marine & offshore ecosystems. From NJ, 8 politicians signed; 7 prominent Dems, and a lone Republican.

How we harness the vast power to be found in, above and under the sea is in great flux. Following BP's Deepwater Horizon massive oil spill, President Obama reversed himself and put a 7-year ban on offshore drilling for the East & West coasts, and eastern Gulf (it's allowed in the western Gulf). Now, the GOP Drill, Baby, Drill crowd wants to meet rising oil prices with more and faster drilling back in the western Gulf. NJ politicians including Gov. Christie oppose off-shore drilling off/near New Jersey's shores.

NJ's Energy Master Plan calls for a minimum of 1000 megawatts of off shore wind capacity to be developed by 2012 with 3000 MW of off-shore wind by 2020. But Sierra Club's Jeff Tittel said this week Gov. Christie's cuts to clean energy may impact solar or offshore wind goals. Renewable energy money gets cut by the governor at the same time he finds billions to spend to subsidice a natural gas plant which they say will encourage fracking and drilling in the Marcellus Shale that will pollute the Delaware River basin. Both the NJ and national Sierra Clubs signed the letter to the president.

Is your local green group or politician on this list? Blue Jersey's own Loretta Weinberg is. Check the list after the jump.

Rosi Efthim :: Offshore Wind Letter to President Obama

New Jersey signers

American Jewish Committee of New Jersey
Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC)
Atlantic County Utilities Authority
Byram Township Deputy Mayor Scott Olson
Environment New Jersey
Grandmothers Mothers and More for Energy Safety (GRAMMES)
Musconetcong Mountain Conservancy
New Jersey Audubon Society
New Jersey Environmental Federation
New Jersey Highlands Coalition
New Jersey Work Environment Council
NJ Assemblyman John McKeon
NJ Assemblyman Samuel Thompson
NJ Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula
NJ Assemblywoman Connie Wagner
NJ Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver, Speaker of the Assembly
NJ State Senator Barbara Buono, Senate Majority Leader
NJ State Senator Loretta Weinberg
ResurgInt EcoLogical Sustainability Consultants
Sierra Club, NJ Chapter
South Branch Watershed Association
Sustainable Highlands New Jersey
Upper Raritan Watershed Association

Tags: Offshore Wind, wind farms, oil drilling, Deepwater Horizon, BP, Gulf Oil Spill, President, letter, Barack Obama, Sierra Club, Jeff Tittel, Loretta Weinberg, (All Tags)

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Offshore Wind Letter to President Obama | 5 comments

Offshore Wind (4.00 / 1)

There are a lot of dedicated smart people working on this, including a consortium of fishermen who have additional interest in what goes on offshore. They need our enthusiastic support.

Blog: http://www.deciminyan.org

by: deciminyan @ Tue Mar 08, 2011 at 21:32:25 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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OK, I'm "coming out" for this... (4.00 / 1)

...my "local politician" is on it - Byram Township Deputy Mayor Scott Olson.

Uh, that would be me.

:-)

Honored to be in the company of the others on this letter, saddened that there aren't more elected officials there...yet!

by: toaonua @ Tue Mar 08, 2011 at 22:43:12 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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toaonua unmasked! (0.00 / 0)

[ Gasp! ]

Nice job, Mayor.

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.

by: Rosi Efthim @ Tue Mar 08, 2011 at 23:05:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thank you so much for supporting this. (0.00 / 0)

We need voices from elected officials near the Delaware. Wind is one thing we have plenty of - and it won't poison our wells like Fracking in the Delaware Basin.

This is one issue all folks in NJ have a stake in supporting. Thanks for being brave and stepping up.

One Vote. Yours. It really does matter.

by: carolh @ Wed Mar 09, 2011 at 00:22:17 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Obama (0.00 / 0)

This is truly a great idea. I hope the Governors don't wait for the federal government to get this going. At the federal level, things move very slow. Maybe we in Maryland and Delaware need to take the lead, show them how it's done, then hopefully the Fed will jump on the bandwagon.

chooseoutdoorkitchens.com, directtohomeappliances

by: melanie14 @ Thu Mar 10, 2011 at 07:54:26 AM UTC

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Offshore Wind Letter to President Obama | 5 comments