ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)—During Climate Week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced $2.3 million dollars is being put towards educating New Yorkers on how to work on offshore wind projects. “That’s how we are going to continue to move this industry forward,” said Hochul. “And they will understand how to safely operate hundreds of feet above the waves […]
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)—During Climate Week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced $2.3 million dollars is being put towards educating New Yorkers on how to work on offshore wind projects.
“That’s how we are going to continue to move this industry forward,” said Hochul. “And they will understand how to safely operate hundreds of feet above the waves how to build this infrastructure to power out lights and charge our phones.”
Blair Horner, executive Director of NYPIRG said it’s important for the state to invest in order for it to meet its goals.
“You have to invest in-terms of having both the technology side of it so the offshore wind can be developed properly, the powerlines to connect to them, and you need to have the workforce.”
Assembly Minority Leader, Will Barclay said while he supports job training programs, this raises some questions.
“When we spend so much money on wind and solar, it begs the question of what happens when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine? No one has really been able to answer those questions. We are still going to need the base load power generated through natural gas, nuclear, and hydro,” said Barclay.
Under New York State’s Climate Act, the state’s goal is to have at least 9,000 Mega Watts of offshore wind energy by 2035. By 2050, the state wants to have net zero greenhouse emissions.