Repower Maryland: Offshore Wind News Releases

Today President Obama is expected to sign into law a bill that extends key tax credits for wind power and averts the “fiscal cliff.” The main federal incentives for wind power – the renewable energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the offshore wind Investment Tax Credit (ITC) – expired on December 31, 2012. But with today’s new law, these credits will now be available for wind power projects that start construction over the next year, allowing for continued growth of Maryland and American wind power.

During what has become dubbed as “Wind Week” environmental advocates, business leaders, and local stakeholders up and down the Atlantic coast have joined in the release of a new offshore wind report and to call on leaders at both the state and federal level to ensure our swift transition to clean, renewable energy.

As lawmakers prepared to pass Gov. Martin O’Malley’s offshore wind power legislation out of the Maryland House of Delegates, an environmental group stood in front of the state house with minority and business leaders to hail offshore wind’s benefits for Maryland.  The group, Environment Maryland, released a new report, “What Offshore Wind Means for Maryland: Environmental, Economic and Public Health Benefits Across the State,” detailing regional benefits throughout Maryland of clean energy and reduced global warming pollution.

In a vivid illustration of the clear connection between energy and public health, more than two dozen doctors and nurses -- wearing scrubs and lab coats and holding pro-wind signs -- today demonstrated in favor of Governor Martin O’Malley’s Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2012 (HB 441/SB 237) in Annapolis. Small business leaders also spoke out as part of a “Healthy Lives, Healthy Economy” event near the steps of the State House.