Happy July Community Partners! Below is a copy of our July newsletter featuring news about offshore wind and related interests.
UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION AND LEADERSHIP
- Public Meeting to view draft visual simulations of offshore wind turbine assembly in Humboldt Bay
- Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 23, 5:00 – 8:00 pm, Sequoia Conference Center, 901 Myrtle Ave, Eureka
- The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District is hosting a public meeting about the assembly of offshore wind turbines in Humboldt Bay with Q&A and opportunities for public comment.
- The California Energy Commission delayed the vote on AB525 Offshore Renewable Energy Strategic Plan – next meeting is scheduled for August 14th
- AB 525 Offshore Renewable Energy Strategic Plan
- Public comments were made by Tribal staff and leaders spoke to environmental concerns and the need for tribal partnerships, as well as the lack of specific milestones to measure tribal inclusion and resources for tribal involvement. Labor leaders spoke about the need for good jobs for local workers and commended the plan for including robust labor provisions. Some commenters expressed concern about the short timeline (five hours) between the final report being released and voted on, noting that this isn’t sufficient time for community participation and response. The Commissioners agreed to push out their decision with a recognition that people needed more time to review.
- Click here for a summary of comments submitted to the CEC by a number of local partners in April.
- GridLab 2035 Offshore Wind Technical Report
- GridLab, a non-profit based in Berkeley, CA with the mission of addressing technical challenges and reliability questions in the implementation of clean energy policies has published a report about United States offshore wind potential. Noting that offshore wind could provide 10-25% of total electricity generation in the U.S. power system in 2050 without substantially impacting wholesale electricity costs. The report describes the scenarios, data, and methods used and the key findings related to domestic offshore wind including economic impacts, supply chain considerations, transmission planning, and how it could impact the U.S. power grid.
- GridLab, a non-profit based in Berkeley, CA with the mission of addressing technical challenges and reliability questions in the implementation of clean energy policies has published a report about United States offshore wind potential. Noting that offshore wind could provide 10-25% of total electricity generation in the U.S. power system in 2050 without substantially impacting wholesale electricity costs. The report describes the scenarios, data, and methods used and the key findings related to domestic offshore wind including economic impacts, supply chain considerations, transmission planning, and how it could impact the U.S. power grid.
- Resource Directory
- From the Community Foundation Climate Collaborative. Lists of experts, grant writers, list serves, and websites. This is a useful resource for those working in the climate space!
- From the Community Foundation Climate Collaborative. Lists of experts, grant writers, list serves, and websites. This is a useful resource for those working in the climate space!
- BOEM Advances Offshore Wind Near US Territories: Calls for research ideas that would help ensure offshore energy activities are conducted in an environmentally and socially responsible way
- BOEM is seeking responses to requests for letters of interest and information from potential research partners to work on their upcoming studies on the following:
- Baseline Data for Birds Cetaceans and Sea Turtles in the Pacific
- Synthesis of Social Science Research on Fisheries
- Offshore Wind Energy and Visual Resources: Culture, History, and Tourism and Recreation
- Offshore Wind Workforce Capability and Benefits: What’s needed? What exists? What can be locally sourced? What training programs would be useful? How do we ensure Offshore Wind benefits local people?
- Baseline Hydrodynamic Modeling and Potential Impacts for larval dispersal
- Inventory and Assessment of Coastal and Submerged Archeological and Historical Sites Along the U.S. Caribbean Territories
- Air Quality
- Coastal and Marine Space Use: The U.S. Territories
- Stakeholder/Community Perspectives on Offshore Wind: Public Values, Beliefs, and Concerns
- For those interested in applying to be a research partner: the deadline for responses is August 23rd, 2024
- BOEM is seeking responses to requests for letters of interest and information from potential research partners to work on their upcoming studies on the following:
- BOEM’s white paper on Decommissioning
- A short resource about BOEM’s current decommissioning framework, including decommissioning information required in the Construction and Operations Plan, financial assurances, and environmental review at decommissioning.
- A short resource about BOEM’s current decommissioning framework, including decommissioning information required in the Construction and Operations Plan, financial assurances, and environmental review at decommissioning.
- 2024 Offshore Wind Legislative Tracker
- Use this document to keep track of this year’s offshore wind bills
Recent Community Events & Updates
- California Energy Commission Meeting – July 10, 2024
- Find Meeting information, notes, and materials, including zoom recording on their website.
MEDIA CLIPS AND PUBLICATIONS
- Researchers from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are conducting a study on the West Coast to understand how high seabirds fly and whether they might interact with wind turbines and other infrastructure. Previous studies have found very low rates of collisions between birds and offshore wind turbines. But deep waters off the West Coast host a much different community of seabirds than Europe and the East Coast.
- Article on OSW Bird impacts
- For pacific offshore wind research, check out the Tethys Pacific Coast Offshore Wind Environmental Research Project Finder, a searchable database of planned, ongoing, and recently completed research projects relevant to better understanding the environmental effects of offshore wind development along the U.S. Pacific Coast.
- Canopy Offshore Wind Farm (Canopy) has formalized the early stages of partnership with the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC) through a memorandum of understanding (MOU). This will allow Canopy Offshore Wind and the SBCTC to establish career pathways for a skilled, diverse workforce on the North Coast, they have committed to including tribes in their PLA. The MOU will help guide the path to a project labor agreement.
- Canopy MOU fact sheet attached
- Bryson Robertson was a guest on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Think Out Loud discussing the recently announced Pacific Offshore Wind Consortium formed by the Pacific Marine Energy Center at OSU, the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt, & the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
- Nothing Will Be Protected’: Why California Environmentalists Oppose a ‘Green’ Energy Bill
- Article published by Lost Coast Outpost about why some environmentalists oppose Assembly Bill 3238 that would streamline state permitting processes for power companies. Proponents of the bill say lengthy environmental review processes hinder CA’s ability to meet its clean energy goals. Opponents say fast tracking review processes could weaken environmental protections and lead to large companies damaging important landscapes.
- New Website Launched to Answer Questions and Counter Misinformation about Offshore Wind
- Redheaded Blackbelt article on the new website by EPIC, Humboldt Waterkeeper, and CORE Hub.
- “Offshore wind is an important topic for our community. In working to decide whether this is right for Humboldt County, it is important that we are equipped to have a fact-based conversation,” said Matt Simmons, Climate Attorney at the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC).
- North Coast Offshore Wind FAQs
- Lost Coast Outpost also reported
- The Atlantic Every Time You Post to Instagram, You’re Turning on a Light Bulb Forever
- Article exploring the emissions of information and communications technology. It is difficult to accurately measure the environmental impact of global data use and storage.
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