Terry Mcauliffe News

As part of his Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (EO 14008)—issued on the first day he took office—President Biden made significant commitments to renewable energy. These commitments include collaborating with multiple federal agencies in the United States and promoting critical industry support for the acquisition of electric vehicles for the federal fleet, as well as rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, the landmark international agreement signed in 2015 to limit global warming.

The offshore wind industry in the United States is growing exponentially, with multiple projects in the development stages off of the Atlantic coast. The total megawatt capacity of U.S. offshore wind farms is anticipated to reach 22,000 by 2030 and 43,000 by 2050. To support this growth, U.S. Department of Energy reports estimate over 40,000 new jobs will be created by 2030.The new jobs anticipated to support the offshore wind industry include a wide range of types, including engineers, trade workers, surveyors, scientists, technicians, managers, and seafarers.

Now that the United States finally can envision steady winds blowing from the Atlantic Seaboard due to a pipeline of offshore wind farms on the horizon, the maritime industry can finally step up and earn some of the benefits. This includes shipbuilding, port construction, and worker training. This article reviews the key developments and forecasts the growth in maritime jobs.The federal and state governments share responsibility for developing offshore wind farms and bringing the wind into the power grid and…

An offshore wind project in the U.S. mid-Atlantic is moving forward, as project owner Dominion Energy Virginia has signed an agreement and strategic partnership with DONG Energy to build two 6-megawatt turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The two companies will now begin refining agreements for engineering, procurement and construction. Dominion Energy remains the sole owner of the project. Engineering and development work on the newly named Coastal Virginia Offshore…

Expansion of Virginia’s Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ 20) into northeast North Carolina was approved by the US Department of Commerce and the decision provides another means of attracting cargo to The Port of Virginia, the port’s CEO says. “This is an incentive that can be used to attract business to the port and investment and jobs to locations within the FTZ,” said John F. Reinhart, CEO an executive director of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA). “The benefits of the FTZ can be significant and this decision opens the door in northeast North Carolina to those benefits. Companies operating in Foreign-Trade Zones can defer, reduce or eliminate US Customs duties on imported products.

Governor Terry McAuliffe today announced that The Port of Virginia’s preliminary unaudited reports for fiscal year 2016 indicate that it will post an annual operating income of $4.76 million, the second year in a row that the port completed its fiscal year with profitability. “The Port of Virginia’s performance is meeting and exceeding the expectations of my administration,” said Gov. McAuliffe. “This financial turnaround is proof that the port’s wise investments in capital projects and people, which are being made in support of a plan for sustainable growth, are yielding very positive results, in terms of reputation abroad, delivery of service, performance at the piers and an increasingly stable financial picture.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced its approval of the first wind energy Research Activities Plan (RAP) for a facility to be located in U.S. federal waters, as part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to create American jobs, develop clean energy sources and cut carbon pollution. Last year, BOEM awarded a research lease to the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) on the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Virginia. Today’s action clears the way for the installation and operation of two 6-megawatt (MW) turbines and associated cabling to shore, pending final engineering review of the project. The electricity generated by these turbines could power 3,000 homes.

Hurricane Joaquin was gaining strength on Thursday as it moved toward the Bahamas, with forecasts still inconclusive on whether the storm would slam into the U.S. East Coast or head out to sea without making landfall, the Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Joaquin, the third hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic season, intensified late Wednesday into a Category 3, on a scale of 1 to 5, with maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour (185 kph). The storm was expected to gain strength and could become a Category 4 over the next day as it moves near or over portions of the Bahamas, the NHC said. Several models show the hurricane turning north, bringing it to the coast of the Carolinas or mid-Atlantic states on Friday or Saturday, the agency said.

Newport News Shipbuilding celebrates the keel-laying of aircraft carrier John F. Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), celebrated the keel laying of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), the second ship of the Gerald R. Ford class. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the ship's namesake, the 35th President of the United States, is the ship's sponsor. She declared the keel "truly and fairly laid" via video to signify the ceremonial start of construction. "The aircraft carrier came of age in a time of conflict," Caroline said.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe encouraged Virginians to get ready for hurricane season and provided an update on the commonwealth’s preparations Friday at a press conference in Portsmouth at Coast Guard Base Portsmouth. The governor also presented Rear Adm. Stephen Metruck, commander of the 5th Coast Guard District, with a proclamation in recognition of the U.S. Coast Guard’s 225th birthday, which the service will celebrate Tuesday. Brian Moran, Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, Aubrey Layne, Virginia Secretary of Transportation, and Dr. Jeff Stern, State Coordinator, Virginia Department of Emergency Management also spoke about hurricane preparedness, and fielded media questions.

U.S. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today joined Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and other Federal, state and local officials to break ground on two major infrastructure projects at the Port of Virginia. Supported by nearly $200 million in federal funding, the projects will relieve congestion and delays at the port terminals and naval base, while reducing harmful emissions and increasing safety in adjacent neighborhoods. “Ports like this one show us that having a first-class transportation system can attract first-class jobs and enable American businesses to ship goods all across the world,” said Secretary Foxx. The I-564 Connector Project…

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has executed a wind energy research lease with the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME), BOEM announced today. This is BOEM’s first executed wind energy research lease, coming as part of the Obama Administration’s Climate Action Plan to create American jobs, develop domestic clean energy resources and cut carbon pollution. Under this lease, DMME proposes to design, develop and demonstrate a grid-connected, 12-megawatt (MW) offshore wind test facility on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off the coast of Virginia – adjacent to the Virginia Wind Energy Area (WEA).

Carrying 95 percent of U.S. foreign trade, our maritime transportation system, which includes America’s ports, is a crucial component of our nation’s economy. And with our growing population—and the associated need to increase the amount of freight our transportation network carries—maritime’s value will only grow in the future. This point is not lost on the Obama Administration, and it’s the reason why Vice President Joe Biden joined U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), U.S. Rep.

The White House is asking the U.S. Navy to pay the six-figure utility bill for Vice President Dick Cheney's house, as Democrats accused Cheney, the administration's point man on energy policy, of "staggering insensitivity." The bill for electricity, gas and water for the 33-room official vice presidential residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory is projected at $136,000 for fiscal 2002 which ends in September, compared with a budget of $43,600, the White House said. The bills have far outstripped the budget since an electricity meter was installed in 1998, the White House said. This has driven Cheney to practice the energy conservation…