The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
James Gillway is the town manager of Searsport and a former Republican state representative. Chip Curry of Belfast is a Democratic member of the Maine Senate.
Coastal Maine has taken a real beating from back-to-back-to-back storms this winter.
Fueled by climate change, rising water temperatures and historic tides, damage has been widespread and terrible, threatening big and small businesses alike, families, and whole communities. The financial impact of these storms will be felt by all taxpayers. They will forever change both Maine’s coastline and inland areas.
We know that there’s little we can do to control the weather, but we also recognize that there is a lot that we can — must — do to prevent the worst consequences of climate change.
One of our top priorities must be to transition away from fossil fuels, which requires that we develop new and more sustainable ways to produce electricity.
In Maine, one of our greatest opportunities is in the development of floating offshore wind. Maine is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the strong and consistent winds that blow far offshore in The Gulf of Maine.
Last year, Maine took a huge step forward in making floating offshore wind a reality. We successfully lobbied federal regulators to exclude critical Maine fishing grounds from consideration in siting turbines. We ensured that the jobs created in this sector would meet high labor standards. And we established an environmental research and mitigation program with guaranteed funding mandated from future developers.
Maine has taken the first steps to ensure that offshore wind is developed responsibly, that Maine people get the rewards of the new industry, that host communities benefit, that heritage fisheries are safeguarded, and that construction is done in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way that supports good-paying jobs.
Late last year, the Searsport Selectboard passed a thoughtful resolution supporting the process to develop offshore wind in Maine. The resolution is built on several important details: that negative impacts will be minimized; that a community benefit agreement will be negotiated in a way that includes stakeholders; and that Searsport affirms its support of a robust and open process for the development of floating offshore wind.
In 2014 our region lost one of the state’s backbone industries when the Bucksport paper mill closed. This closing put around 500 direct workers out of jobs and impacted dozens of large and small businesses in our area that depended on the mill for trade. This new floating offshore wind port will directly employ about the same amount of people as were lost, and the Offshore Wind Roadmap identified that as many as 60,000 jobs will be created in Maine if we move offshore wind forward.
Developing an offshore wind industry in Maine will create family-supporting jobs that offer a path to the middle class. It will put Maine on the leading edge of new technology that we can export to other places, bringing investment back home. And it can be done in a way that appropriately balances impacts and benefits to make sure Mainers aren’t left out.
Now that Maine has made its recommendation to the federal government about where it wants the port to be located, there are certainly issues we must come together to address. Through community engagement and an open, transparent process, we can ensure development occurs in the best way possible and that our communities see the incredible benefits that will follow this new industry.
Creating an offshore wind industry in Maine will have challenges. We are confident that the tools exist to make sure that those challenges are addressed and that our way of life and our communities are protected. Change is always hard, but this is the right path for both our climate and for the welfare of families and communities.