Tag Archives: U.S. Department of the Interior
Biden Admin Approves New Jersey’s First Offshore Wind Project Amid Growing Local Pushback
The Atlantic Shores South project, given a green light by the U.S. Department of the Interior last week, calls for installing 200 towering wind turbines less than nine miles off the coast — providing enough electricity to power more than 1 million homes. It’s the ninth offshore wind project approved by President Joe Biden as part of his efforts to expand the green power industry aggressively. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and environmental groups praised the project’s approval, saying it will help reduce the state and nation’s reliance on fossil fuel energy sources. “Through the responsible development of offshore wind facilities, we can protect our aquatic and coastal resources and the communities who rely upon them while taking bold action to address the climate crisis by reducing emissions from fossil-fuel-dependent energy sources,” Shawn LaTourette, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said in a statement. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:06
Fishing Industry Remains Concerned with Offshore Wind Power
East End residents will soon be another step closer to wind power and away from fossil fuel; but local commercial fishermen are raising objections. And East Enders are waiting to hear how much this wind power project will mean for new utility rates. The federal government earlier this spring approved what it calls a “record of decision” for a Denmark-based company, Orsted, to build one of the largest offshore wind farms planned for Nassau and Suffolk counties. The decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior is among the last steps to build the windfarm, known as Sunrise Wind, an 84-turbine plant, before actual construction can begin. Both Sunrise Wind and South Fork Wind are in the waters off Massachusetts and Rhode Island. South Fork Wind’s cable comes ashore in Wainscott. Sunrise Wind has a power cable running more than 100 miles to Smith Point County Park, before beginning a 17 mile trip through Brookhaven Town to a substation in Holtsville. more,>>CLICK TO READ<< 18:05
CT, RI wind farm gets federal decision on environmental plan
One of Connecticut’s first two wind farms reached a major milestone on Tuesday, with the Bureau of Ocean Energy issuing a “record of decision” in the environmental review process for Revolution Wind, a prerequisite clearing the way for construction in the coming weeks. Revolution Wind will be located 15 miles off Point Judith, R.I., with partners Orsted and Eversource planning to sell the electricity generated by wind turbines to Connecticut and Rhode Island. That construction activity includes crews conducting multiple test pits near along the Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown, R.I., and at the substation where power from the wind farm will be brought ashore, and then converted for use on the regional electric grid. >click to read< 16:06
Blown Away: Offshore wind regulators ignore danger to fishing industry
“This industry, this group of people in the room today, really are the key to unlocking that clean energy future,” Beaudreau, the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, proclaimed at a conference hosted by the American Clean Power Association, a lobbying group largely funded by offshore wind developers. Just one year earlier, Beaudreau had been a corporate lawyer, earning part of his $2.4 million income from offshore wind developers. Then he was appointed to regulate the industry he was previously paid to represent. During Beaudreau’s tenure, developers including several of his former clients have gained preliminary or final approvals for an unprecedented expansion of offshore wind, despite repeated warnings from federal scientists about potential harms to marine life and the fishing industry. Photos, >click to read< 07:48
Intense reaction to wind/fishing investigation – >click to read the comments< 4/25/2023
US Advances Plans for Offshore Wind in Maine
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced next steps to bring offshore wind energy to the Gulf of Maine. “President Biden has set ambitious goals to address the climate crisis, and in response the Interior Department is taking historic steps to develop a robust and sustainable clean energy future,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “Today’s announcement for the Gulf of Maine represents one of the many milestones that this Administration has achieved to advance offshore wind development, create good-paying jobs, lower consumer energy costs, while collaborating with our government partners, Tribes and key stakeholders to protect biodiversity, advance environmental justice and safeguard other ocean uses.” >click to read< 15:33
Happy Thanksgiving! Giblet Joe and his flock of turkey’s just stuffed your bird!
The Biden administration approved an offshore wind farm off the coasts of Rhode Island and New York on Wednesday as part of a plan to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. The U.S. Department of the Interior announced it approved the construction and operations of the South Fork Wind project, the department’s second approval of a commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project in the United States. Last week, the department marked the groundbreaking off the coast of Massachusetts for the first commercial-scale offshore wind project. >click to read< 08:44
Big Blow Joe – Biden’s Rush to put Windmills off the Coast of Massachusetts
It didn’t take long for fishermen to realize that Joe Biden is not their friend. Biden, or whoever is calling the shots these days in Washington, rushed through a review of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm, moving the project, expected to be online by the end of 2023, closer to becoming a reality. It’s not the first time Joe Biden has dealt the fishing industry a losing hand. The Obama-Biden Administration closed fishing grounds off the New England coast by declaring the area a national monument. Trump reversed the decision upon taking office. >click to read< 07:10
Gulf of Mexico: Containment System Complete at MC20 Oil Release Site
The U.S. Coast Guard and contractor Couvillion Group have successfully installed a containment system to capture oil leaking from Taylor Energy’s Mississippi Canyon 20 well, despite a lawsuit brought by Taylor to halt the intervention. The installation marks a major milestone in the USCG’s efforts to address the spill, which has been ongoing for 14 years. >click to read<11:18
Offshore wind developers ante up at auction of leases near Block Island
In what is sure to be seen as an affirmation of their industry’s prospects, a scrum of offshore wind developers is poised to pay an unprecedented amount of money for the latest set of leases being auctioned off in federal ocean waters near Rhode Island and Massachusetts. When the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management suspended its auction Thursday night for the three leases located in waters about 51 miles southeast of Block Island, the bids for each had reached between $91 million and $101 million — more than twice the highest amount paid in the past for an offshore wind lease in the United States and a range that compares favorably to payments for oil and gas projects. The bureau, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, described the day as “historic.” In a tweet, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said, “We have something big going on off the coast of Massachusetts.” >click to read<10:13
Let the National Ocean Policy Bureaucracy Begin! – U.S. Initiates Prototype System to Gauge National Marine Biodiversity
NOAA and NASA are funding three demonstration projects that will lay the foundation for the first national network to monitor marine biodiversity at scales ranging from microbes to whales. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) also plans to contribute. This joint effort supports the U.S. National Ocean Policy to,,, Read the rest here 07:44
Fish, Lesser Prairie Chickens, and “sue and settle” practices – Federal regulations should be based on reality, not agendas
OKLAHOMA Attorney General Scott Pruitt has filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “sue and settle” practices, which dramatically expand federal regulations without public input. Read more here 18:43
To be Served Today: Commercial fisheries groups plan to sue over turtle regs
The N.C. Fisheries Association teamed with the Carteret County Fisherman’s Association for the action and will be represented by local attorneys at Wheatly, Wheatly, Weeks, Lupton and Massie, a Beaufort firm. Those served notice of the intent to file legal action are several high profile individuals, including John Skvarla, secretary to the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources; Dr. Louis Daniel, executive director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries; Gordon Meyers, head of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission; Sally Jewel of the U.S. Department of the Interior; Daniel Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; NOAA head Dr. Kathryn Sullivan; and Penny Pritzker, secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Read more here carolinacoastonline 13:56
National Park Service ignores National Marine Fisheries Service FishWatch Program while endorcing two private enterprises eco-labeling programs
Last month the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service (NPS) announced that it was now requiring that vendors at all of the food service establishments in its parks, monuments, etc. serve seafood that is certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council or identified as “green” or “yellow” in reports prepared by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Read the Seafood Coalition notice
Compass: New federal ocean policy bodes ill for Alaska – Rep. Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage,
ADN- Alaskans today have tremendous potential opportunities that can provide lasting benefits for decades to come. Plentiful energy and mineral resources, new Arctic shipping lanes, vibrant fisheries, and a bustling tourism i
ndustry are but a few of the areas that could all combine to usher in a new era of unprecedented economic and societal prosperity for the people of Alaska and beyond. Unfortunately, prospects for this bright future could potentially be delayed if not derailed as a result of President Obama’s issuance of the July 2010 and the recently-released National Ocean Policy Final Implementation Plan. continued
Bay Area Pacific herring fishermen are squaring off against the U.S. Department of the Interior
Attorneys for the San Francisco Herring Association filed a lawsuit last week to challenge the federal restrictions, arguing that there is no federal law on the books that expressly gives the Interior Department the right to regulate fishing or other activities in the coastal areas in question. continued
BOEM Five Year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil And Gas Leasing Program Under Attack
Thank You, Dick G
The Center for Sustainable Economy, a non-profit public interest consulting firm, filed a lawsuit today against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in an attempt to halt that agency’s first approved five-year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program since the BP oil spill. The Program, which establishes a schedule for 2012-2017 to be used as a basis for considering where and when oil and gas leasing might be appropriate in both the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, received final approval from U.S. Department of the Interior on August 27, 2012. Read More
