Biden Announces First Offshore Wind Lease in Gulf of Mexico

by John Hugh DeMastri

President Joe Biden will announce the first offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico at an event Thursday afternoon to promote his administration’s economic agenda, according to the White House.

The lease will be spread across three areas, one roughly 100,000 acre area offshore of Lake Charles, Louisiana and two areas totaling roughly 200,000 acres offshore of Galveston, Texas, according to the White House. While the administration has previously held sales for offshore wind leases off the coasts of New York, the Carolinas and California, and is considering several additional projects off the east coast, the Gulf of Mexico sale — scheduled for August 29 — represents the first federal lease in the region.

“Today’s announcement marks another historic step in the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to create a clean energy future,” Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland said in an accompanying press release.”By catalyzing the offshore wind energy potential of the Gulf of Mexico, we can tackle the climate crisis, lower energy costs for families and create good-paying jobs.”

BY THE NUMBERS | The Gulf of Mexico Offshore Wind Lease Sale includes 2 lease areas offshore Texas & 1 lease area offshore Louisiana.

🌊 +300K acres
🔌 +3.6GW of offshore wind energy
🏠 ~1.3 million homes with clean energy

Details: https://t.co/KdsYmZbYpu pic.twitter.com/Wk9g8tYv73

— Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (@BOEM) July 20, 2023

While the expected price of the lease was not immediately clear, federal lease auctions for areas off the coast of New York and New Jersey drew a record-setting $1.5 billion in bids, according to Reuters. The offshore wind industry in the New Jersey area has faced criticism from some environmentalists following an unusual rash of whale deaths in the region.

Biden is set to announce the lease sale at the Philly Shipyard in a speech celebrating the facility’s construction of an American-made offshore wind vessel, according to the White House. The White House considers the development of offshore wind projects to be a “key pillar of Bidenomics,” a term the president has used to advertise his economic agenda .

The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

– – –

John Hugh DeMastri is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.