February 26, 2024 3:20 a.m.
On Friday, the Oregon Legislative Coastal Caucus issued a call for the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to address significant concerns before advancing offshore wind projects off the coast of Oregon.
In a letter to BOEM Director Heidi Klein, the group expressed extreme disappointment with BOEM’s decision to finalize two Wind Energy Areas without adequately addressing the concerns of coastal communities, industries and tribes.
Coastal Caucus Chair Representative David Gomberg, a Democrat from Otis, said, “Oregon’s coastal communities deserve to have their voices heard and their concerns addressed before any further action is taken on offshore wind development”. Gomberg said, “We simply cannot support the advancement of this industry without meaningful consideration of the impacts on our communities, marine environment and tribal interests. If BOEM is going to do this, they must do it right. Currently they are not”.
The Coastal Causcus release said on February 13th, BOEM announced the designation of two finalized WEA’s despite substantial public opposition and concerns over BOEM’s repeated failures to meaningfully engage with Oregonians. In response, the caucus is urging BOEM to postpone any decision to move forward with a lease sale of WEAs until the public comment period on environmental assessments is extended and BOEM can commit to complying with the standards outlined in the Offshore Wind Roadmap proposal in HB 4080. That legislation passed out of the House Business and Labor Committee on February 2nd. It has been referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.
Senator David Brock Smith said, “BOEM’s recent and surprising move to finalize the WEAs in the face of overwhelming opposition from a broad group of stakeholders is just wrong”. Brock Smith said, “…I strongly urge Director Klein, the Biden Administration and BOEM to halt any further action and truly engage with our communities and stakeholders”.
The Oregon Legislative Coastal Caucus includes bipartisan representatives and senators from coastal districts from Astoria to Brookings.