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sighted litigation can end the hopes of any pretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act But without a frm regulatory founda- ascendant industry as fast as any market (MBTA) to meet its statutory intent and tion to build upon, all the benefts of off- miscalculation. In 2017, Cape Wind had reforming the National Environmental shore wind will vanish overnight. The to pull the plug on its project of Cape Cod Policy Act (NEPA) allow common-sense fnal stroke – getting past the Vineyard after years of, as the New York Times de- to prevail and limit the ability of litigation Wind permitting hurdles by getting it scribed it, “endless litigation.” Round af- to derail massively important projects that right – will open the door to an offshore ter round of lawsuits drove up costs and beneft energy consumers while protect- wind industry that will be here for a long, established delays and prevented Massa- ing the environment. long time. chusetts residents from being able to ac- cess a new energy source.

Even with the delay, East Coast states are moving ahead with their plans for off- shore wind. Six states announced more than 16 gigawatts of new offshore wind targets in 2019 alone. In total, more than 25 gigawatts of offshore wind projects are targeted by Atlantic states.

Furthermore, states are not just theoriz- ing about wind, they are actively award- ing wind contacts. In the past year, New

York awarded 1.7 gigawatts of offshore wind contracts to two projects; New Jer- sey gave the green light for a 1.1-gigawatt project; Connecticut signed a 804-mega- watt deal; and offshore Virginia, construc- tion began on the frst wind farm in fed- eral waters.

States are pushing offshore wind for- ward, to the beneft of millions of Ameri- cans. Close to $70 billion in capital ex- penditures by 2030 will be needed, and more than 160,000 direct, indirect or in- duced jobs could be created by 2050. The most recent offshore wind lease auction generated $405 million in Federal rev- enues. Clearly, there is more hinging on the success of Vineyard Wind and other permits than ever before.

The Trump administration is checking every box to make sure that offshore wind is a success story, and the U.S. Depart- ment of the Interior is making sure history does not repeat itself. Realigning the inter-

The Author

Milito

Erik Milito is the Presi- dent of the National

Ocean Industries As- sociation (NOIA), the national trade association representing all segments of the offshore energy in- dustry. www.marinelink.com 15