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California's Governor Newsom calls for new offshore wind targets

4C Offshore | Tom Russell
By: Tom Russell 26/07/2022 Governor Gavin Newsom

In a letter to the Chair of the California Air Resources Board, California's Governor Newsom called for the state to ensure that the 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan provides a path to achieve both the 2030 climate goal and state carbon neutrality no later than 2045. He requested that the final plan incorporate new efforts, including the advancement of offshore wind.

Governor Gavin Newsom has called for a establishing a California Energy Commission planning goal of at least 20GW of offshore wind in 2045.

Last month, Governor Newsom signed a state budget that will make it easier to bring clean energy projects online, speeding up the environmental review process of new clean energy projects, and helping the state move away from electricity generated from fossil fuels.

The Governor also announced that he will work with the Legislature to enact carbon neutrality into state law, increase the state’s ambition towards 2030 climate goals and accelerate clean energy targets, while supporting carbon sequestration from our natural and working lands and advancing safe and equitable engineered carbon removal. He will also work to finalize the state’s investments under the $53.9 billion climate commitment.


“California communities experience the devastating impacts of climate change every day. We need to supercharge our efforts to significantly reduce harmful carbon pollution. The state’s draft carbon neutrality road map doesn’t go far enough or fast enough. That’s why I’m pushing state agencies to adopt more aggressive actions, from offshore wind to climate-friendly homes, and to make sure we never build another fossil fuel power plant in California again,” said Governor Newsom.


The California Air Resources Board will meet in the fall to consider adopting a final draft of the 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan.

Back in May The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced the next steps for offshore wind lease sales in two regions on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore California. This is the first ever offshore wind lease sale proposed on America’s west coast. The Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) includes three proposed lease areas in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area off central California and two proposed lease areas in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area off northern California, totalling approximately 373,268 acres. According to BOEM, they have the potential to unlock over 4.5 GW of offshore wind energy and power more than 1.5 million homes.



For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide, click here.

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