Salazar to visit Rhode Island to talk offshore wind benefits

August 15, 2011

U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is set to travel to Rhode Island on Wednesday to discuss the economic benefits and job creation opportunities of offshore wind energy development.

Secretary Salazar, who oversees permitting for offshore wind power among his other responsibilities, is scheduled to join state officials and Governor Lincoln Chafee for a tour of several sites across the state.

While he is in Rhode Island, Secretary Salazar will meet Rhode Island’s US Senator Jack Reed, and with business and community leaders to discuss Rhode Island’s resources and potential for economic expansion.

Senator Reed will soon lead the effort to write the fiscal year 2012 budget for the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The House Appropriations Committee recently passed a bill that would gut clean air and clean water laws and included a number of toxic policy riders that would hamper science-based conservation.

Senator Reed said he is committed to working with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the top Republican on the Interior Subcommittee and Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) to develop a more balanced, bipartisan approach.

Salazar will be the 9th member of President Obama’s cabinet to tour Rhode Island. The state received previous visits from the Secretaries of Defense; Education; Homeland Security; Housing and Urban Development; Labor; Transportation; Veterans Affairs; and the Attorney General.