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Wind turbines and fishing nets fight for offshore space
If the Block Island represents the promise of offshore wind, the industry faces a series of challenges lurking just beneath the surface of the waves. Opponents of offshore wind have raised concerns ranging from the turbines’ impact on military radar to worries they could clog shipping channels. Perhaps most dangerous to developers’ ambitions: the growing and increasingly coordinated opposition from the commercial fishing industry. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt recently delayed Vineyard Wind, an 84-turbine project planned for the shallow waters 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, out of concern for its impact on fishing. The $2.8 billion project had been scheduled to begin construction this fall, putting it on course to become the first large-scale offshore wind development in the United States. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
Solar ‘just exploded’ globally. So did coal
Renewable energy investment has more than tripled globally during the current decade compared to the last 10-year period, new research shows. Solar photovoltaic generation attracted the most investment dollars by far, followed by wind energy. From 2010 to 2019, more money was spent installing solar generation capacity than on new coal-fired power generating capacity. [ read more … ]
Plan to split rollback could complicate fight for greens
If the Trump administration splits up its rollback of Obama-era clean car standards, the ensuing litigation will be more complicated, according to legal experts. The White House is reportedly planning to divide the high-profile regulatory rollback into two discrete components, E&E News and other outlets reported yesterday. The first component involves revoking California’s legal authority to set tougher vehicle emissions rules than the federal government. The second involves freezing fuel economy standards at 2020 levels through 2026, rather than increasing their stringency each year as President Obama had envisioned. [ read more … ]
Opinion
Offshore wind projects deserve careful review, but not bureacratic death
While the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management might be justified in hitting the pause button, the agency must not use this delay to kill the project. Offshore wind is essential to the fight against climate change, in New York and elsewhere. Its benefits easily outweigh any negatives. BOEM and its parent, the Department of the Interior, as well as the Trump administration in general, have been bullish on offshore wind as giant infrastructure projects with good jobs — despite President Donald Trump’s occasional disparagement of “windmills” and his recent bizarre remark that they “frankly aren’t working too well.” [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.