Offshore Wind for Territories Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Speaker, this bill provides a number of benefits for the territories of the United States: Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It adds them to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, allowing them to begin developing offshore wind in their waters, a potentially crucial source of new clean energy for their residents. It sets up a system by which the territories receive a share of the revenue generated by any new offshore wind development.

Currently, our territories rely primarily on imported diesel for generating electricity, putting them at high risk of supply disruptions and forcing residents there to pay some of the highest electricity rates anywhere in the country, particularly when oil prices spike.

As hurricanes and extreme weather events continue to challenge the energy security of these territories, developing offshore wind will make for more resilient communities, decrease dependency on fossil fuels, and potentially bring electricity prices down significantly.

However, because the territories are currently not covered by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, there is no legal mechanism for putting wind turbines in the waters off their coastlines. This bill fixes this longstanding unfairness, offers them a share of any revenues generated by offshore wind, and also protects their coastlines by leaving them off of the offshore oil and gas leasing process.

Additionally, some of the revenues generated by this bill are allocated to the Coral Reef Conservation Program, preserving, sustaining, and restoring the condition of coral reef ecosystems that, in many cases, are crucial for the environment and tourism economy of these same territories.

H.R. 6665 is a commonsense bill for the growth and success of U.S. territories and the environment, while also providing new sources of clean, carbon-free energy.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source