FEATURED COVERAGE
California’s first-ever auction for offshore wind leases just brought in more than $757 million in bids. The Department of the Interior announced the winning bids on Wednesday, which cover five sites located off of Morro Bay and off of Humboldt County.
David Chiu is San Francisco City Attorney and a former Assembly member who authored a bill to kickstart offshore wind.
“When you walk over to the coast and feel the wind blowing on you 20 to 30 miles off the California coast from our Oregon border all the way down to Mexico,” said Chiu, “there is enough offshore wind to power the entire electrical grid: clean, green, 100% renewable, which is remarkable.”
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Sacramento. At a press conference at the Capitol, state lawmakers and local elected officials urged legislation on a windfall profits cap. Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) California local elected officials from frontline communities spoke about how their communities are being affected from gas prices as the oil industry continues to rake in billions of dollars in profits with no regard for how it hurts Californians, our climate and security.
“Oil refiners more than doubled their CA profits from the recent gas price spikes — making a clear case to enact a windfall profits cap,” said Assemblyman Alex Lee. “It’s high time the people of California see relief from this price gouging. I commend Gov. Newsom’s plan for a windfall tax on oil companies and urge legislative action. This is just the latest of countless incidents underlining the urgency for California to become energy independent from fossil fuels.”
PRESS RELEASES
March 8, 2023
Over 120 New Jersey elected officials, whosigned a EOPA letter of support for responsible offshore wind development, praised New Jersey’s new offshore wind solicitation that will put the state on track to meet Governor Phil Murphy’s goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2035. It also represents a significant milestone toward achieving Gov. Murphy’s goal of 11 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2040, which is projected to power 3.2 million homes with renewable energy.
On March 6, The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) voted to open the application window for thestate’s third solicitation for offshore wind capacity. The third solicitation seeks to award between 1.2 GW and 4 GW of offshore wind capacity, building on the previously awarded 3.75 GW.
February 23, 2023
Putin’s war and autocratic plans have been dependent on the Free World using fossil fuels as their energy source. The late Sen. John McCain famously said, “Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country.” Before the 2022 invasion, Europe made the mistake of actually increasing its dependence on Russian gas from 27 percent in 2013 to 38 percent.
In 2022, despite the war, Russian oil revenue was up 50 percent, according to the International Energy Agency. Gas exports have actually increased during the war. This has given Putin ammunition to fight Ukraine to the tune of more than $700 million a day. According to the IEA, in 2021 oil and gas made up 45 percent of Russia’s federal budget, with about 60 percent of exports going to Europe and 20 percent to China.
February 22, 2023
Sacramento, CA — New research shows today’s Senate Informational Hearing on high gas prices and a
price gouging penalty will be stacked with witnesses in favor of Big Oil and opposed to holding
refiners accountable for fleecing Californians at the pump.
Four of the witnesses organized by the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee have
deep associations with the oil and gas industry, and specifically with the five Big Oil refiners
targeted via SBX1-2 for a price gouging penalty or windfall profits cap
February 14, 2023
“Approximately 58 percent of idle wells in California are located in environmental justice communities with above-average poverty rates. My community is no exception. These wells leak air pollutants and/or allow toxic substances to migrate into our groundwater and sometimes flow up to the surface,” Felipe Perez Firebaugh Councilmember, Kern County, EOPA California Leadership Council.
According to a study led by Stanford University, the amount of methane leaks from huge U.S. oil and gas producing regions is several times greater than the federal government estimates. Oil wells are known to emit likely carcinogens including benzene, formaldehyde, and the potent greenhouse gas, methane, making climate change worse. Uncapped wells exponentially release more methane than funtuning wells.
KCBX: Benjamin Purper
July 19,2022
Momentum is building to get offshore wind farms developed along the California coast in the waters off San Luis Obispo and Humboldt Counties. One estimate from the National Renewable Laboratory said offshore wind in the U.S. could someday provide double the current generation of the country’s entire electric grid. Read Full Article Here
OpEd: Debbie Sariñana
November 12, 2021
The climate crisis drives conflict and instability. As an Air Force veteran, I don’t want to see any more deployments, that result from wars born from climate change events. Instead, the world needs to wage the war on climate change. Read Full Article Here
Opinion: Alex Cornell du Houx – November 7, 2021
The climate crisis is a national security threat, which the Department of Defense and other national security experts have also recognized. Recently, over 100 lawmakers who are veterans and frontline leaders attended a White House summit on the climate crisis, urging for a National Climate Plan and Emergency Declaration Order to address the climate emergency. Read Full Article Here
Story By Mario A. Rodrígruez, November 6, 2021
Durante la COP 26, Murdock trabajó en proyectos de ley para limitar el uso de plásticos de un solo uso y proteger a los habitantes de Carolina del Norte de las emisiones de gases contaminantes que dañan la atmósfera. Lea aquí . n English: Read Full Article Here
Story By Ramona du Houx, September 14, 2021
On September 14th over 137 lawmakers, some who are also veterans, attended an Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) White House Summit on the climate crisis supporting urgent climate solutions and a Presidential Climate Emergency Declaration. Read Full Article Here
PRESS RELEASES:
December 7, 2022
Washington D.C. The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act annual defense policy bill, finalized on December 6, excludes changes to the federal permitting process for energy projects that Sen. Joe Manchin fought to include that would have benefited fossil fuel corporations.
Sen. Manchin was unable to insert language into the bill to streamline the federal environmental review process for fossil fuel and renewable energy projects. .