Our land is ourlife – offshore wind will help protect it, Op-ed by Philip Williams

Op-ed by Phillip Williams, Army Veteran, CA Yurok Tribal Council member

I’m a proud council member of the Yurok Tribe, the largest Native tribe in California, and an army veteran. It’s in our culture to protect our community. That’s one reason why my fellow brothers and sisters from tribes across our nation serve in the U.S. military at five times the national average. We’ve fought in every major U.S. conflict since the Revolutionary War.

The Yurok Tribe has been working for over twenty years with research partners and officials at the local and state levels to return lands back to our stewardship. We use traditional ecological knowledge, such as controlled burns and invasive species removal, to restore the ecosystem, revive salmon runs, and secure ceremonial gathering spaces.

Our land is a part of us; our ancestors reside there. Our rivers flow with us and through us. Our forests, rivers, lands and prairies provide habitat for coho and Chinook salmon, marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl, Humboldt marten and now, through our restoration program—condors. Salmon, and other fish, have sustained us. Traditionally we have been known as Salmon people. For generations we’ve always viewed ourselves as guests who need to help sustain the world around us. That world provides for us and we are grateful. We protect our people and our ancestral lands for our futures. We know we are connected to the earth, air, and water.

While many relearn these lessons, as I have done, these truths reside in our souls. To serve and protect is what we do. When the forest, rivers, or lands suffer, so do we. Dams blocked our salmon from spawning, and shifted how our river flows. We got rid of them. The lumber industry cut our forests and we endured a century of commercial logging that polluted the land. They stripped millions of acres of forest, causing massive erosion that choked out natural salmon habitats while spreading chemicals on reservation lands. Miners and their brutal methods of extracting gold and other metals’ left their scars and chemicals. We fought what these corporations were doing and saw them leave. As stewards, we’ve witnessed corporations overstepping their bounds with nature paying the cost.

We know the offshore wind (OSW) buildout will eventually get underway in Humboldt. There will be challenges ensuring it is done with the utmost ecological responsible manner.

OSW is a never-ending clean energy resource that blows even more at night, when solar energy can’t be collected. With battery storage, offshore wind will easily augment solar and other renewables. I would rather have this clean energy resource deployed than see oil rigs off our coast as the president wants. This current administration is attacking nature in countless insidious ways from rewriting the mission of the EPA to aiding fossil fuel corporations and rescinding grants that help the offshore wind buildout.

I see these attempts to stop the inevitable OSW buildout ending because of the people living and working in the Humboldt region, and the state understanding the value of transitioning off of fossil fuels. I see the OSW buildout as a job opportunity for my Tribe. We have skilled state certified construction workers. Many members are looking forward to training programs to work in the industry. Some have already started.

OSW development will stimulate job creation across coastal regions, with opportunities in construction, operation, manufacturing, and more. It is estimated that a single gigawatt of floating offshore wind development would generate approximately 24,000 jobs during the six-year construction phase and over 600 annual jobs during operation. Reports have shown the state’s goal to deploy 25 gigawatts of OSW electricity would supply up to 20 percent of new clean energy, and generate enough  electricity for up to 25 million homes. 

OSW will play a crucial role in stabilizing, and lowering our energy bills. By diversifying our energy portfolio with a reliable, homegrown clean source of power, we reduce our reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets. This increased reliability also translates into fewer blackouts and shutoffs, which have become an increasingly unwelcome reality for many across the state.

To be good stewards building our energy security while meeting future energy demands, we will need additional renewable sources of power and the infrastructure to deliver it. Adding new renewable sources of electricity helps increase competition, reduces our dependency on expensive dirty fossil fuels, and puts downward pressures on long-term energy costs.

We can develop this resource responsibly, strengthen our energy security, and meet California’s growing energy needs with offshore wind as part of the solution.