More than 200 concerned community members gathered at the Morro Rock parking lot on Saturday to protest the potential impacts of an offshore wind farm.
“It's a national day of action and there are sites all over the county, including the East Coast and the West Coast, that are having this national day of action. It's all basically against offshore wind and it's to tell the incoming administration that we expect the promise to be kept to end offshore wind,” said Andrea Lueker, REACT Alliance board member.
REACT Alliance is a Morro Bay based non-profit started to protect the California Central Coast from what members believe to be the destructive impacts of offshore wind development.
Community members held up signs to raise awareness about their concerns.
“We're a lot more powerful as individuals than we think we are and we can stop this insane project that doesn't help anything, not the marine life, birds or humans,” said Victor Johnson, protester.
The area proposed for the Morro Bay wind energy project is located 20 miles offshore and encompasses around 376 square miles.
“It's just a bad idea in all aspects both ecological and economic to erect this thing 20 miles off our ocean,” said another protester, Ted Key.
However, those favoring offshore wind say the project will address climate change and provide more clean energy sources.
Officials have said that the Morro Bay wind energy area, together with one located off Humboldt Bay, has the potential to generate enough energy to power more than 1.5 million homes.
Representative Salud Carbajal has expressed his support for the project.
“It's imperative that we move forward with those offshore wind projects because they're going to help us reach our renewable energy goals and address climate change, which we are seeing in our country and our communities through fires, drought and what have you. This is going to help us address those issues,” Carbajal said.
Members of REACT Alliance say they plan to hold more events like this in the future.
“We hope the new administration ends offshore wind. We don't think it's the way to go,” Williams said.
American Clean Power, a group representing the offshore wind developers, released a statement in response to the protest, saying, “As California’s demand for electricity continues to grow, offshore wind remains critical to diversifying the energy mix in pursuit of a safe and resilient power grid while bolstering jobs across the state. Californians have consistently shown their support for offshore wind as an important component of the state’s clean energy goals. Offshore wind development is a public process, every project is subject to public comment and rigorous review at all levels of government to ensure these projects safely deliver significant economic and environmental benefits to California, and our country.”
