For Immediate Release:
Friday, June 28, 2024
Media Contact:
Lee Francis | Deputy Director
Virginia League of Conservation Voters
434-989-3197 | lfrancis@valcv.org
Central Atlantic leasing areas could power more than 2 million homes with clean, renewable energy
RICHMOND – Today, the Department of the Interior announced it would hold an offshore wind energy lease sale in the Central Atlantic, including a 176,505-acre site approximately 35 nautical miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay off Virginia’s coast and adjacent to other sites currently under development. This site, combined with another one off the coast of Maryland and Delaware, could generate up to 6.3 gigawatts of clean, renewable energy and power up to 2.2 million homes.
In response to this announcement Lee Francis, Deputy Director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, issued the following statement:
“Further offshore wind deployment off our coast means more good-paying jobs in Virginia, more investment in local communities, and more clean energy powering our daily lives – all of which results in a healthy economy and a healthy environment. With the nation’s largest offshore wind project currently in development off our coast, and already creating good-paying jobs here in the Commonwealth, Virginia’s solidified its place as an offshore wind leader on the East Coast. This lease sale will allow us to go even further as we continue working toward 100 percent clean energy.”
About us:
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters serves as the political voice of the state’s conservation community, working to make sure Virginia’s elected officials recognize that our natural heritage is an environmental and economic treasure for all. Virginia LCV works with conservation leaders across Virginia and strives for a conservation majority in state government. We secure good public policies on the state level and hold public officials accountable for their positions on environmental issues. For more information, visit www.valcv.org.
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