Governors Environmental Briefs: CA. and White House Collaborate on Offshore Wind Energy and Appointment to Natural Resources Agency

California Joins White House Partnership on Offshore Wind Energy

SACRAMENTO — The White House announced, Feb. 22, California joined a crucial effort to accelerate offshore wind development across the country. California signed onto the 13-state federal-state offshore wind implementation partnership – adding the West Coast to the regions represented by the partnership. 

The partnership is designed to fast-track efforts to bring cleaner and cheaper energy to Americans, create good paying jobs and build an American supply chain for offshore wind. 

What Governor Gavin Newsom said: “We’re in the midst of a clean energy revolution, and ramping up the development of offshore wind energy will help move our state off dirty fossil fuels. Thanks to the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration, offshore wind energy has gone from a distant pipedream to a burgeoning reality. With this new federal Partnership, California will continue spearheading efforts to bring offshore wind energy to the West Coast while creating thousands of good jobs and tackling the climate crisis.” 

California has set ambitious offshore wind capacity planning goals of 2-5 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045. In December, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management or BOEM hosted the first-ever auction of offshore wind leases on the Outer Continental Shelf off the central and northern coasts of California, as well as the first U.S. sale in support of commercial offshore wind energy projects.

Gov. Newsom Announces Appointments

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom Feb. 17 announced the following appointment:

Noaki Schwartz, 51, of Long Beach, has been appointed deputy secretary for equity and environmental justice at the California Natural Resources Agency. Schwartz has been deputy director of communications, environmental justice and tribal affairs at the California Coastal Commission since 2022, where she was a public information officer from 2015 to 2022. She was a staff writer at the Associated Press from 2006 to 2012. Schwartz was a staff writer at the Miami Herald from 2005 to 2006. She was a staff writer at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel from 2001 to 2005 and a participant in the minority editorial training program (Metpro) at the Los Angeles Times from 2000 to 2001. She was an English teacher through the Japanese exchange teaching program for the Japanese government from 1994 to 1997. Schwartz earned a Master of Science degree in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $170,004. Schwartz is a Democrat.