Posted on June 1, 2022
The Gulf of Mexico, a longtime hub for petroleum, could become a primary source for offshore wind energy after a review of the area for potential wind turbines by the Biden administration.
The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which plans and leases offshore energy projects, is conducting a review of about 30 million acres of waters in the Gulf off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. The agency previously scheduled multiple offshore wind auctions in several locations across the country in the next three years.
BOEM Director Amanda Lefton noted in an interview with Politico that the companies and workers who have spent decades in the Gulf of Mexico provide it with an advantage over other offshore locations.
“We have a really mature base for energy. We’ve got the know-how,” Lefton said. “The people, the companies, the manufacturers that know how to do [Outer Continental Shelf] energy development are in the Gulf of Mexico.”
Politico also notes that this will test the promises made by the Biden administration to help workers “transition” away from fossil fuels and toward green energy with a unionized workforce by providing oil and gas workers with first-hand experience with the kinds of jobs being offered.
Rick Levy, president of the Texas AFL-CIO labor union, told Politico that “when workers hear ‘just transition,’ I think they hear, ‘We’re having a fancy funeral,’ ” but this could “make sure that when we set these offshore wind and other technologies on their course, that workers are able to share in the benefits.”
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said during a recent trip to a turbine facility, “We want to support the workers who have for 100 years powered this nation, and we want them to power this nation for the next 100 years while we power them with clean energy.”
She added, “If we’ve learned anything from [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the volatility of the fossil-fuel markets globally, it’s that ultimately we do want to transition to clean, home-grown American energy.”
