Democratic Congressman Jared Golden of Maine’s 2nd District slammed House Republicans Thursday after his proposed amendment to prohibit commercial offshore wind development in a crucial Maine lobstering area was rejected.
[RELATED: Gulf of Maine Lobstering Area Spared as Biden Admin Drafts Offshore Wind Development Zones…]
Rep. Golden’s amendment to the Department of Interior Appropriations Act of 2024 would have prohibited any of the funds appropriated by legislation from going towards leases, licenses, permits, or authorization for commercial offshore wind energy projects in Lobster Management Area 1 (LMA 1) in the Gulf of Maine.
“Offshore wind development in the Gulf’s most productive fishing grounds is a threat to Maine fishermen’s way of life,” Rep. Golden said in a prepared statement Thursday.
“House GOP members say they are opposed to offshore wind, but given this opportunity to close these fishing grounds to OSW, they failed to deliver,” Golden said.
“It calls into question their commitment to protecting America’s fishermen,” he added. “This isn’t the first time they’ve proven unreliable, but I will keep trying to pass this protection against federal approval of OSW in LMA 1.”
In October the Biden Administration released a draft Wind Energy Area (WEA) identifying over 3.5 million acres in the Gulf of Maine it says are suitable for leasing to offshore wind projects.
The area drafted by the Biden Administration excluded LMA 1, federal waters critical to Maine’s fishing industry.
In June, Maine Gov. Janet Mills and the state’s congressional delegation wrote a letter to the Biden Administration calling upon them to avoid the lobstering area.
In addition to this letter, Rep. Golden introduced a standalone bill in June that would have prohibited commercial offshore wind development in LMA 1.
Patrice McCarron, policy director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association commended Golden on introducing the legislation, saying the legislation would “ensure that any impacts of offshore wind are understood before allowing the industrialization of the fragile and productive Gulf of Maine ecosystem.”
Following the release of the drafted WEA, Gov. Mills and the delegation said they were “encouraged that the [Bureau of Ocean Energy Management] has initially listened to our concerns and those of the fishing community by excluding Lobster Management Area 1 in its draft.”
[RELATED: Another Offshore Wind Project Scuttled as Maine Charges Forward with Mills’ “Roadmap”…]
“We believe that clean energy can offer economic and environmental benefits for Maine that must be pursued prudently and responsibly with a commitment to minimizing to the greatest extent possible the impact on fishermen, recreation, and other crucial ocean uses that are critical to Maine,” they said in a joint statement.
8 Comments
…huh, suppose the House rejected Golden’s amendment merely because he’s an Independent Democrat!? Democrats have very few ideas that merit any worthwhile debate…but, Golden’s wanting to keep these asinine offshore wind turbines out of Maine lobster fishing territory seems worthy enough, at least prima facie.
I wonder why Republicans are ignoring the fact that the technology does NOT exist to produce & distribute adequate, COST-EFFECTIVE, environmentally friendly, 24/7 reliable electric power 🤔
Looks like I left out some key words from my last comment. It should read,in part: the technology does not exist to produce & distribute adequate, COST-EFFECTIVE, environmentally friendly, 24/7 reliable WIND OR SOLAR electric power.
Modern modular nuclear power plants and hydroelectric power plants are the two alternatives to fossil fuel produced electricity that are in fact able to produce adequate, cost-effective, environmentally friendly, 24/7 reliable electric power.
It’s a Democrat plan and Golden is mad because he. Ant count on the GOP to stop it? Offshore Wind is quickly being understood to be a financial disaster
Wondering how much $ invested by Pengree into offshore wind, could be your answer.
Hey, how about no offshore wind turbines, even if the amendment made it onto the bill, the democrats would not have supported it, so other than grandstanding what good did he do? But hey it looks like he cares, lol.
Maybe by investing in green energy is how Pingree is now worth 10 million dollars, check out Angus too.
I recall reading in several places some years ago that Angus made a lot of money arranging for leases for the locations of new wind mills. Am sorry I cannot give citations and the left owned Maine press would not now touch that with a ten foot boat hook.
sad about all that hydro power we destroyed