It’s never been more important for Californians to get behind offshore wind | Opinion
Californians have made it clear: We’re ready to seize the golden opportunity that is our state’s growing offshore wind industry.
Support for this transformative technology is strong and growing across our state. In a 2024 Public Policy Institute survey, 78% of adults in California – including 89% of Democratic voters and 67% of Republicans – were in favor of offshore wind.
The new Trump administration can’t change what our state knows to be true: These projects will bring good-paying jobs and huge air quality and environmental benefits, especially on the Central Coast. The devastating wildfires in Los Angeles are only the latest proof of the urgent need to move California toward a clean energy economy.
California offshore wind has time on its side, even in face of Trump’s nascent efforts to slow the industry down. Our offshore wind areas are already leased, and final federal permits aren’t expected for years, but that doesn’t mean we can sit on our hands and wait.
The labor and environmental movements, including our groups, the Central Coast Labor Council and San Luis Obispo chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, agree: We must keep up the momentum and engage ambitiously in building this new American industry.
California’s goal of building as much as 25 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2045 would be enough to power more than 25 million homes. In the process, it will generate thousands of jobs with high-paying, family-sustaining wages for generations to come.
Researchers at Cal Poly projected in 2023 that just the three gigawatts of cutting-edge floating offshore wind planned in the deep ocean off Morro Bay could create more than 2,000 year-round local jobs for the 25-year lifespan of a wind project and nearly 40,000 more jobs during a six-year construction phase, mostly at California ports and manufacturing facilities.
Building out offshore wind off the California coast will help domesticate U.S. energy production and manufacturing, creating a large-scale, low-impact, renewable, American-built source of clean, reliable electricity.
In the near term, we can focus on building out our ports, with a boost from the vital $475 million for port infrastructure that passed with Proposition 4 this past Election Day.
The county of San Luis Obispo and city of Morro Bay are already partnering on a port facility readiness study, and the Port San Luis Harbor District has a similar study underway to understand its capacity for infrastructure development.
These initiatives will include plenty of community engagement opportunities and will consider how potential future port projects could invest in local communities. By getting in on the ground floor of this growing industry, we can ensure that Central Coast families have a seat at the table in shaping how offshore wind benefits everyone, especially our most vulnerable residents.
To achieve a lofty set of goals – building offshore wind responsibly, minimizing negative environmental impacts, directing jobs and other local benefits to the Central Coast communities and creating a wholly American-made source of renewable energy – Central Coast workers, organizations and elected leaders must come together to create and enact a policy vision that drives wind investment to our region.
No matter what happens at the federal level, our support for offshore wind at the state and local level is more important than ever.
The labor and environmental movements will stay engaged in these planning discussions and continue to welcome opportunities to take part in building California’s clean energy economy. We urge all Californians to do the same.
Jeremy Goldberg is the Executive Director of the Central Coast Labor Council. Jacob McNevin is the Program Coordinator for Climate and Clean Energy Programs at the Surfrider Foundation, San Luis Obispo Chapter.