Every year, Congress approves a bill that sets out funding for the U.S. Coast Guard. But as we've seen many times in the U.S. House and Senate, as well as the N.C. General Assembly, what should be an innocuous piece of legislation has environmental threats hidden inside.
The 2022 Coast Guard Authorization Act includes just such a land mine, this one aimed at offshore wind development. Section 518 would allow foreign-flagged ships installing wind turbines on the Outer Continental Shelf only if their crews are made up entirely of U.S. citizens, non-citizen legal residents of the U.S., or citizens of the nation from which the vessel is flagged.
That's just not the current situation with the ships involved in offshore wind development. Wind turbines are massive structures, some taller than the Washington monument, with blades longer than two football fields. It takes years to develop the expertise needed to operate the highly specialized equipment used to build these turbines.
Offshore wind development is still new in the United States, and though some projects are under way, our nation doesn't yet have the workforce or the vessel fleet necessary to complete these complicated installations.
Though some coastal states have proposed workforce development programs to help our citizens go to work in offshore wind development, we're still a long way away from having enough trained people to fully crew a ship.
That's why we encourage you to write to Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, North Carolina's U.S. senators, and ask them to oppose Section 518 of the Coast Guard authorization bill. The amendment would drag down the much-needed development of more clean energy.
The Coast Guard authorization bill contains many good elements beyond the straightforward funding and staffing of the branch, such as improving access to service among women and minorities, and a lengthy section on preventing and responding to sexual misconduct and assaults. The Sierra Club applauds these sections, and we believe they shouldn't be dragged down by an ill-advised attempt to stall offshore wind projects.
Years ago, U.S. workers from the Gulf of Mexico helped teach Europeans how to drill for oil in the North Sea. Likewise, we now need the guidance of nations with more than 20 years of experience in offshore wind development. In the meantime, our fight to limit climate change demands that we move forward as quickly as possible with clean energy projects.
Write now to senators Tillis and Burr, and tell them North Carolina's climate future is at stake. Urge them to demand that Section 518 be stricken from the Coast Guard Authorization Act.