(Well, that’s nice for a change! 🙂 – promoted by lowkell)
Cross-posted at va4wind.com.
Statement of Glen Besa, Director of Sierra Club-Virginia Chapter:
With the ribbon cutting today in Chesapeake, Virginians are awakened to the potential of a new, clean energy future. Virginia has several natural advantages that brought Gamesa to Virginia. Plentiful offshore winds, a deep water port and a skilled and experienced labor force make Hampton Roads an ideal location for an offshore wind industry already employing tens of thousands skilled workers in Europe but just now coming to the United States.
We applaud Governor McDonnell for his Administration’s support of this potentially game changing technology project.
The next challenge lies in convincing Gamesa and Northrup Grumman over the next year to create thousands of jobs in Virginia by locating a plant to manufacture the turbines in Hampton Roads. In Pennsylvania, where Gamesa’s North American land based turbine production is based, more than 160 companies make up a supply chain that has brought thousands of jobs to that state.
Persuading Gamesa and Northrup Grumman to locate their turbine manufacturing facility in Hampton Roads will likely mean making a commitment to renewable energy in the next year which thus far the McDonnell Administration and Virginia’s largest utility, Dominion, have been hesitant to make.
Today, we are excited by this important step in bringing offshore wind to Virginia. Sierra Club is committed to supporting clean renewable energy, and we look forward to partnering with industry, utilities, labor and the McDonnell Administration to make Virginia the East Coast Capital of renewable energy development.
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