Dive Brief:
Two agencies in the U.S. Department of the Interior announced on Tuesday an agreement to coordinate on the regulation of offshore renewable energy, on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Dec. 22 to clarify their roles in ensuring an efficient use of resources for renewable energy production, such as offshore wind. BSEE s activity is critical to BOEM s management of renewable energy development on the OCS, BSEE Director Scott Angelle said in a statement, and the MOA clarifies that role.
Will 2021 be the year offshore wind power finally takes off?
An administration ready to tackle climate change may helpâbut itâs the years of planning that could really pay off
January 20, 2021 12:30AM (UTC)
GREAT YARMOUTH, ENGLAND - JULY 19: The sun starts to rise behind Britain s largest offshore wind farm off the Great Yarmouth coastline on July 19, 2006 in Norfolk, England. The 30 turbines cost GBP75million and can generate enough power for 41,000 homes are seen by supporters as a clean and green way to generate electricity and a way of cutting down on harmful green house gas emmissions. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
Source: Nearmap/DigitalVision via Getty Images
A recently enacted U.S. energy innovation package has set a bold new goal for the U.S. Interior Department: the siting and permitting of 25 GW of renewable energy projects on federal lands by 2025.
Reaching that target would mean more than tripling the slightly more than 8 GW of total renewable generating capacity approved since 1978 by the Bureau of Land Management, an agency within the Interior Department.
Industry experts say the aspirational goal is possible, but it will require revamped environmental permitting processes and a major buildout of electric transmission capacity. The challenge could serve as a key test for President-elect Joe Biden s administration as he seeks to implement a $2 trillion climate and energy plan that aims to completely decarbonize the nation s electric grid by 2035.
Daily on Energy: Questions we have as Biden is sworn in Print this article
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QUESTIONS FOR BIDEN: President
Joe Biden, yes it’s official as of this writing, will immediately
take aim at more than 100 Trump-era actions weakening climate and environmental regulations in his first step toward implementing his aggressive climate agenda.
We have a few questions on how Biden proceeds in the coming days and weeks.
Doug Fraser, Cape Cod Times
Published
11:21 am UTC Jan. 17, 2021
President-elect Joe Biden’s climate plan proposes building thousands of offshore wind turbines as a key contributor to the goal of a carbon-free U.S. energy sector by 2035.
With the states largely carrying the ball as the Trump administration stepped back from climate change and clean energy, the pressure is on for the new administration to come through on its promise.
“The actions by the states across the country have been really important and kept the U.S. moving forward in spite of a lack of leadership in Washington,” Josh Albritton, director of climate change and energy at the Nature Conservancy, said. “That change is happening . but to get to 2050 (net-zero carbon emissions nationally) we need the federal government.”