How Infrastructure Reform Can Prioritize Ocean Climate Action
April 26, 2021, 9:01 am Getty/Mario Tama
A woman rides on a tour boat as a container ship is offloaded at the Port of Los Angeles in Terminal Island, California, March 2020.
Sam Hananel
Ari Drennen
Introduction and summary
Now is the time to invest in the United States’ coastal communities and ocean. Historically, the ocean has been central to the U.S. conception of infrastructure; early cities were built in naturally sheltered bays or on the banks of tidal rivers to provide safe harbors for ships.
1 Today, ocean-based climate solutions have the potential to provide up to one-fifth of the reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions needed globally to limit the world’s temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which scientists say is necessary in order to lower the risks associated with climate change.
April 23, 2021 By Jim Myers
Washington, D.C. President Joe Biden continues to meet with members of Congress as he promotes his $2 trillion-plus infrastructure and jobs proposal, but Republicans sound committed to a much more modest approach limited to traditional infrastructure and paid for without repealing tax cuts they view as a signature issue.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said members of his party continue to work on a traditional infrastructure proposal that would cover roads, bridges, ports and broadband and a “more credible way to pay for it.”
“This proposal is a Trojan horse to roll back the historic 2017 tax reform plan that helped spur big-time wage growth and the best job market in a generation before COVID-19,” McConnell said of Biden’s proposal.
Biden Administration s Path in Ambitious Offshore Wind Push natlawreview.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from natlawreview.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Image: Dominion Energy The Biden administration continues making its renewable energy moves and has set a goal of deploy 30 gW of power generation capacity in US waters by 2030.
While the pundits can argue about whether Biden is creating a “Green New Deal”, or something slightly different, the impacts are all very positive for offshore wind energy’s future.
Previously the Department of the Interior (DOI) committed to approving construction plans for 19 gW by 2025, indicating an attempt to speed up what had been a very cumbersome project review cadence during the Trump years.
Environmental reviews, a critical part of offshore wind projects, are also in a faster lane; the DOI intends to review Ocean Wind, a big project (1.1 gW) offshore the New Jersey Coast; Vineyard Wind (800 mW) and South Fork Wind (130 mW) are already in this crucial part of the review pipeline.
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On March 29, the Biden Administration unveiled the broad strokes of a comprehensive, multi-agency plan to “accelerate and deploy offshore wind energy and jobs” in furtherance of President Biden’s twin priorities of fighting climate change and rebuilding America’s infrastructure. The ambitious plan aims to deploy 30 gigawatts (30,000 megawatts) of offshore wind generation capacity by 2030. Utilizing a “whole of government” approach, the plan involves coordinated action by the Departments of Interior, Energy and Commerce to open new lease sales on the continental shelf while protecting biodiversity and promoting co-use.