Articles include: Oregon Utility Using Greenwashing and ‘Renewable Natural Gas’ To Push Back on Potential Gas Bans; New Government Report Highlights Federal Failures to Oversee Offshore Drilling [report is here]; New Lawsuit Challenges ‘Fast-Track’ Permits Used for Oil and Gas Pipelines Nationwide; Over a Half-million Americans Live Near Oil Refineries With High Levels of a Cancer-causing Air Pollutant, Report Finds [report is here]; Ugandan Farmers Whose Land Will Soon Become a Crude Oil Pipeline Pathway Lose Years of Livelihood; Climate Disinformation Database: Energy4US
Tag: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)
Studies: Offshore Wind Power is Ready to Boom. Here’s What That Means for Wildlife
The Revelator: Offshore Wind Power is Ready to Boom. Here’s What That Means for Wildlife. Climate change threatens many marine species, but some climate solutions pose risks, too. Researchers say offshore wind needs continued study and better regulations.
A key part of the United States’ clean energy transition has started to take shape, but you may need to squint to see it. About 2,000 wind turbines could be built far offshore, in federal waters off the Atlantic Coast, in the next 10 years. And more are expected.
East Coast states from Maine to North Carolina are working to procure nearly 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035 — a huge leap from the five turbines currently generating 30 megawatts in Rhode Island waters. If a regulatory backlog of projects awaiting approval from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is finally unstuck — as experts hope will happen this year — the buildout of offshore wind will arrive during a crucial decade for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the gravest threats facing birds is climate change, according to Audubon, which found that rising temperatures threaten nearly two-thirds of North America’s bird species.
But a study published in December 2020 conducted at Bass Rock, Scotland — home to the world’s largest northern gannet colony — found that wind developments could reduce their growth rate, though not enough to cause a population decline.
Other marine mammals may also perceive the noise, but at low decibels it’s unlikely to be an impediment, research has found.
And it’s possible that wind development could help some ocean life. Turbine foundations can attract fish and invertebrates for whom hard substrates create habitat complexity — known as the “reef effect,” according to researchers from the University of Rhode Island’s Discovery of Sound in the Sea program.
Once turbines become operational, reducing the amount of light on wind platforms or using flashing lights could help deter some seabirds, NRDC researchers reported.
How Soon Will An EV Cost the Same as a Gasoline Vehicle? Sooner Than You Think.
Inside Climate News discusses How Soon Will An EV Cost the Same as a Gasoline Vehicle? Sooner Than You Think. Electric trucks and tractors are on the way, but the fishing industry is slowing development of the nation’s first giant offshore wind farm.
At some point, probably sooner than you expect, the price of an all-electric vehicle will fall far enough to equal the cost of an equivalent gasoline vehicle. We know that day is coming and a whole lot of people—many of whom work in the auto industry—would like to know when. So here’s an answer: Maybe by 2023, probably by 2024 and almost definitely by 2025.
Harvard EELP Updates, August 5, 2020
Harvard’s Environmental and Energy Law Program (EELP) includes:
- EPA’s Benefit-Cost Proposal in the Context of PM Pollution Regulation
- Immediate Executive Action: Unexplored Options for Addressing Climate Change Under the Existing Clean Air Act
- BOEM predicts offshore wind boom, but where does the industry stand today?
- Hana Vizcarra speaks with Kevin McLean on the Toxic Substances Control Act
- Joe Goffman and Cynthia Giles discuss EPA’s Enforcement During Covid-19
- Jody Freeman on CGTN America
- Hana Vizcarra on How Climate Change is Changing the Practice of Law
- Jody Freeman in S&P Global Webinar on ESG in Oil and Gas
Maine fishermen, environmentalists join in opposition to offshore drilling
This article talks about fishermen and environmentalists joining together to oppose Trump’s plans for drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.
Fishing groups, environmentalists, politicians and tourism advocates plan to use a pair of tailored public hearings this week to oppose the Trump administration’s proposal to expand offshore drilling in the Atlantic and other ocean waters.
The federal government’s meetings in Maine and New Hampshire are part of the nearly two dozen “open houses” put on by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management nationwide. Unlike a traditional hearing, the public will meet one-on-one with bureau officials and submit written comments.
Trump 2019 budget: Reduce offshore, increase fossil fuel spending
Trump cuts offshore spending, making more cash available for US oil and gas projects. Trump has cut government spending on offshore renewable projects in the proposed 2019 budget for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The 2019 fiscal year budget makes a total of $179.3m available, falling from its 2018 total of $23.7m to $20.7m. Spending on conventional energy projects is meanwhile poised to increase from $58.5m to $61.7m and an additional $12.2m will be set aside for the 2019-2024 National OCS Oil and Gas leasing program, BOEM said.