Congressman Huffman, Gipson address strategic plans for Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind project

March 29, 2024

U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman, Assemblymember Mike Gipson, along with local lawmakers, held a press conference on Friday to discuss the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project, which aims to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by the year 2030 and 110+ GW of offshore wind by 2050.

"In some ways, we are creating an entirely new industry and we just had a very important kind of strategic conversation about what that entails; how we're going to get from here to there," Huffman said during the conference. “This offshore wind project...is about way more than Humboldt County. When you look at the totality of the supply chain, and all the jobs and the way this is all going to fit together, it is part of an offshore wind industrial complex on the West Coast."

During the conference, Assemblymember Gipson spoke passionately about making sure the project employs the Humboldt County community first, instead of bringing in people from out of the area to fill jobs. “I expect 85% of those jobs to be found by people who live in my community," Gipson said. "How can I feed my neighbors kids if my own kids are going hungry?”

Congressman Huffman also stressed the importance of having a relationship with local tribes. "Definitely, front-and-center are our tribal values," he said. "We need to make sure that this works for Indian country in a way that, historically, some economic opportunities have not."

 


By:  Adelmi Ruiz
Source: KRCR