The Incentivizing Wind Power Act has been co-sponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree as well as Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins in their own respective version. However, Rep.Mike Michaud has yet to support it.

The act would provide much-needed encouragement to develop offshore wind farms. With it, incentives would be given to companies if they choose to build a wind farm, giving them the push they need.

This could potentially bring billions of dollars into Maine, as offshore wind farms would be a perfect fit for a state with abundance of offshore wind potential, but in dire need for more job opportunities.

If we have most of the pieces in order to bring thousands of jobs to Maine while also decreasing our dependence on dirty fossil fuels, why should we not jump at the chance to finish the puzzle?

With incentives, we can truly make this a reality.

While the indecision over the extension of these incentives has postponed potential offshore wind projects, Maine could have been on its way to becoming a leader in wind energy.

We shouldn’t wait any longer to bring in these jobs. We need all of our congressional representatives to support this bill.

Shwetha Hemavathi, Farmington