{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-senator-whitehouse-and-rep-langevin-applaud-the-inclusion-of-offshore-wind-act-provision-in-year-end-spending-bill", "Senator Markey, Senator Whitehouse, and Rep. Langevin Applaud the Inclusion of Offshore WIND Act Provision in Year-End Spending BillRead More", "2020-12-22", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Edward Markey", "M000133", "www.markey.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Spending\r\npackage includes five-year extension of critical tax incentives for offshore\r\nwind Washington (December 22,\r\n2020)  Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.),\r\nand Congressman Jim Langevin (RI-02) applauded the inclusion of key components\r\nof their legislation, theOffshore Wind Incentives for New Development\r\n(WIND) Act (S. 1957), as part of the year-end spending package. The\r\nprovision would extend the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for offshore wind\r\nfacilities at 30 percent through 2025, as called for in the Offshore WIND\r\nAct. Introduced in June 2019 by Senators Markey and Whitehouse, and Rep.\r\nLangevin, the Offshore\r\nWIND Act would spur the growth of offshore wind energy in the United\r\nStates by extending tax credits for the renewable energy industry. In addition to extending\r\nthe offshore wind ITC, the omnibus budget package extends the ITC for solar and\r\nthe production tax credit (PTC) for onshore wind. It makes permanent energy\r\nefficiency improvements for commercial buildings and extends a credit of up to\r\n$2,000 for the purchase of energy efficient homes, as well as extends credits\r\nfor non-business energy property purchases. The package also includes a\r\nfive-year extension of the tax used to fund the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.  Offshore wind has the\r\npotential to change the game on climate change, and those winds of change are\r\nblowing off the shores of Massachusetts, said Senator Markey. Offshore\r\nwind projects are a crucial part of America's clean energy future, creating\r\ntens of thousands of jobs up and down the East Coast and reducing carbon\r\npollution. In our effort to harness this potential, we will now be able to\r\nprovide this burgeoning industry the long-term certainty in the tax code that\r\nit needs. Our workers and our manufacturers stand ready to meet the demands of\r\nthe offshore wind industry, and our economy stands ready to reap the winds of\r\nsuccess. My big thanks to Senator Whitehouse and Rep. Langevin for their\r\ncontinued partnership and dedication to this legislation.   Rhode Island's\r\nfirst-in-the-nation offshore wind farm charted a course for wind energy in\r\nAmerican waters, said Senator Whitehouse. Now our growing offshore\r\nwind industry will have the certainty to follow Rhode Island's lead. That\r\nmeans huge investment in coastal communities and jobs, plus lots of clean,\r\naffordable energy for consumers. I'm proud to have worked with Sen.\r\nMarkey and Rep. Langevin to get this legislation over the finish line.   As home to the United\r\nStates' first offshore wind farm, my district has seen first-hand the power and\r\nbenefits of renewable energy, and it's important that other communities are\r\nable to tap into it as well, said Rep. Langevin. The extension of\r\nthese vital incentives will strengthen our ability to produce clean energy, create\r\ngood-paying jobs, reduce harmful emissions, and make communities more\r\nresilient. I thank Senators Whitehouse and Markey for their leadership in\r\nadvancing this legislation and helping to build a greener, more sustainable\r\nfuture.  Offshore wind has the\r\npotential to create tens of thousands of jobs up and down the East Coast. The\r\nextension of the ITC will play a critical role in ensuring that this nascent\r\nindustry receives the support necessary to establish a new clean energy economy\r\nin the United States. Our offshore waters have the potential\r\nelectricity-generating capacity of 2,000,000\r\nmegawatts (MW), and coastal states are ready to harness\r\nthat new power. To date, states have set offshore wind procurement targets of\r\nmore than 29,000\r\nMW,\r\nand the Energy Department found that the United States could install a total of\r\n86,000 MW of offshore wind projects by 2050. With ambitious state targets and\r\nthe extension of the offshore wind ITC, the offshore wind industry will be able\r\nto support good jobs in manufacturing, installing, and maintenance and create\r\nclean electricity all along the US coasts.In recent years, the ITC\r\nhas been instrumental in the rapid expansion of renewable energy capacity. Due\r\nin large part to the ITC, the United States made the second-largest amount of\r\ninvestments in renewable energy capacity in 2019, with $55.5\r\nbillion in investmentsan increase of 28% from 2018.\r\nAdditionally, despite the coronavirus crisis, domestic renewable energy\r\ncapacity grew significantly in 2020, with an estimated increase of 19,000 MW of\r\nsolar capacity and 15,000 MW of wind capacity. The nation's first offshore\r\nwind project at Block Island, Rhode Island began operations in December 2016\r\nafter being initiated nearly nine years ago and is now producing enough power\r\neach year to power 17,000 homes. The Vineyard Wind 1 projectthe first project\r\nplanned for federal waters off the coast of Massachusettswill generate clean,\r\nrenewable, cost-competitive energy for more than 400,000 homes and businesses\r\nacross the Commonwealth, while reducing carbon emissions by over 1.6 million\r\ntons per year. Massachusetts has set a goal of procuring a total of 3,200 MW of\r\noffshore wind, following recommendations in a 2019 study from the Massachusetts\r\nDepartment of Energy Resources.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-senator-whitehouse-and-rep-langevin-applaud-the-inclusion-of-offshore-wind-act-provision-in-year-end-spending-bill"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6816650275141001, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}