White House & Governor Newsom Agree to Open Two Areas of California Coast to Offshore Wind

May 25, 2021

Today, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl, and Governor Gavin Newsom announced an agreement to open two areas of the California Coast to offshore floating wind. This agreement includes an extension of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 2018 Morro Bay Call Area. This Call Area now encompasses 399 square miles, approximately 20 miles off the coast near Morro Bay and Cambria, and would accommodate 3 GW of energy production.  

“Since its inception, the Environmental Defense Center has been dedicated to the transition from offshore oil and gas extraction to renewable energy. For the past five years, EDC has been a strong advocate for thoughtful planning to ensure offshore floating wind projects are sited and designed to avoid and minimize impacts to marine species and coastal communities,” said Kristen Hislop, Director of EDC’s Marine Conservation Program. “While the announcement of updated wind energy areas is an important step towards filling a gap in California’s renewable energy infrastructure, we must remain vigilant in our efforts to ensure offshore wind is a net positive for California by also implementing robust environmental protections and carefully analyzing impacts.”

The White House announcement can be found here. 

The Office of Governor announcement can be found here. 

The Morro Bay Call Area extensions can be found here.