Washington, D.C. — The National Wildlife Federation celebrated Governor Andrew Cuomo’s announced proposal to increase New York’s offshore wind commitment nearly fourfold in his State of the State address. “With this announcement, Governor Andrew Cuomo has boldly raised the bar in America’s pursuit of the transformational clean energy opportunity blowing in the winds offshore – and substantial local investments and job creation will follow,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of National Wildlife Federation. “The National Wildlife Federation applauds this historic and visionary leadership to seize this critical climate change solution, and looks forward to working with the Cuomo Administration and industry leaders to ensure that all projects built to power New York are developed responsibly with strong protections for wildlife in place.”

Gov. Cuomo affirmed his unwavering intent to establish the Empire State as a hub of this increasingly competitive clean energy industry. He proposed a bold target of 9,000 megawatts by 2035 – soaring past the combined goals of all neighboring states also pursuing offshore wind development.

With this new commitment, the nation’s offshore wind market from Massachusetts to Virginia now totals more than 15,000 megawatts — enough to power over 6 million average U.S. homes.

Underpinning Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading offshore wind power target are calls for swift action on three fronts to prepare New York for success: invest $200 million in port infrastructure to support the offshore wind supply chain; establish an Advisory Council on Offshore Wind Economic and Workforce Development and invest in a workforce training center; and evaluate and facilitate the development of an offshore transmission grid.

Click here for more on Offshore Wind Power from NWF.