New York Offshore Wind Alliance Appoints New Head

Joe Martens, who served as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s first commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), is joining the New York Offshore Wind Alliance (NYOWA) as its new director, the organization has announced.

NYOWA is a coalition of organizations with a shared interest in promoting the responsible development of offshore wind power for New York. A project of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York (ACE NY), NYOWA has a particular focus on Cuomo’s goal of creating 2.4 GW of offshore wind by 2030.

Martens succeeds Liz Gordon, who is leaving the alliance to rejoin New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office as executive director of corporate governance.

“Offshore wind is the wave of the future, and New York is poised to lead the nation in its development,” says Martens, who begins his new role today. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to help realize this vision and see New York reap the economic, environmental and public health benefits of offshore wind.”

Martens joins NYOWA after two years as a senior fellow at the Open Space Institute, of which he also served as president from 1998-2010. He served as DEC commissioner from 2011-2015, chaired the Olympic Regional Development Authority from 1999-2010 and served as an environmental policy aide to Gov. Mario Cuomo from 1990-1994. He earned a master’s degree in natural resource management from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a bachelor’s degree in Resource Economics from UMass Amherst.