The Pew Charitable Trusts—along with coastal resilience groups, clean energy and ocean service business organizations, conservative voices, and environmental groups—sent a letter on Feb. 8 to leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate urging passage of the bipartisan Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems (RISEE) Act.
The letter emphasizes the potential for the offshore wind industry to create tens of thousands of jobs and facilitate investments in communities across the country, and it underscores how revenue generated through federal leasing for offshore wind could provide substantial resources to protect, conserve, and support coastal environments and economies.
The bill, introduced in the House (H.R. 913) by Representatives Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX) and Randy Weber (R-TX) and in the Senate (S. 373) by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), would establish a mechanism for the federal government to share offshore wind leasing revenue with adjacent states. The RISEE Act would invest billions of dollars to address coastal restoration, hurricane protection, infrastructure improvements, and mitigation of environmental damage; create a welcoming policy environment for offshore wind and manufacturing; and encourage clean, renewable energy production. And in addition to sharing revenue with affected states, the legislation would provide funding to all coastal and Great Lakes states by dedicating a portion of offshore wind leasing revenue to the National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund.
The letter’s signees included the following:
American Clean Power Association
American Shore & Beach Preservation Association
Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions
Conservatives for Clean Energy
Environmental Defense Fund
National Audubon Society
National Ocean Industries Association
National Wildlife Federation
Ocean Conservancy
Oceantic Network
The Nature Conservancy
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Trust for Public Land
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