Offshore Energy

 

US Government Grants 12 Royalty Cuts For Offshore Drillers. According to Offshore Magazine, “The Trump administration has approved 12 applications for reductions in royalty payments from offshore drilling companies, according to Reuters. Those companies have been reeling from reduced demand for fuel and lower oil prices, according to the agency that processes such requests. In an email, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) told Reuters that since March 1, the agency has received initial requests for relief from seven companies, five of which were approved to proceed with formal applications. The numbers reportedly show the slow response by drillers to use the federal government’s legacy process to seek relief from the impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Of 13 formal applications filed so far, all but one has been approved. Those companies are now eligible for royalty reductions, which are reviewed on a monthly basis. Formal applications for relief may include one or several leases. Offshore oil and gas drillers and lawmakers representing US Gulf Coast states lobbied aggressively for broad cuts to the rate companies must pay on their operations. The department responded by saying it would only field requests on a case-by-case basis from individual companies under established procedures.” [Offshore Magazine, 6/12/20 (=)]

 

Florida’s Congressional Delegation, U.S. Senators Back Differing Gulf Drill-Ban Bills.  According to The Center Square, “Florida’s 27-member congressional delegation opposes a tentative federal plan to expand oil leasing off the state’s west coast after November’s elections and is calling on the U.S. Senate to approve a House bill permanently banning drilling off Sunshine State shores. House Bill 205, the Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act of 2019, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Naples, was adopted by the House in September but has not been heard in the Senate. Both Florida U.S. senators, however, are lobbying for their own bill, which they said is more acceptable to the Republican-controlled Senate, to extend an existing moratorium on eastern Gulf of Mexico drilling 10 years beyond its 2022 expiration. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott introduced Senate Bill 13, the Florida Shores Protection and Fairness Act, in January. It remains unheard in the Senate Energy and Resource Committee. Scott on Wednesday reiterated his opposition, and Florida’s unified, bipartisan antagonism, to oil drilling off Florida. ‘As governor of Florida, I fought for and secured a commitment from this administration to keep oil drilling off Florida’s coasts,’ Scott said. ‘As U.S. senator, I won’t stop fighting to make sure offshore drilling is off the table for Florida.’” [The Center Square, 6/12/20 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Trump Has A Surprise For Florida He’s Hoping To Keep Secret Until After The Election. According to Los Angeles Times, “So what is an egocentric president driven to win reelection at all costs to do? Simple — don’t let Florida voters know about the new plan until two or three weeks after the November election, according to Politico. Machiavelli had nothing on this guy. Trump’s energy policies reflect, fittingly, a dinosaurish approach to how the nation ought to be producing and consuming energy. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that burning fossil fuels has added so much carbon and other emissions to the atmosphere that we are increasing global temperatures, altering climate and weather patterns, and melting glaciers and polar ice caps, which is raising sea levels and will lead to massively disruptive and dangerous incursions of the oceans into cities and coastal regions that are home to billions of people. Pshaw, says Trump. What do the scientists know? Still, he’s not foolish enough to tell Florida voters that he intends to allow drilling in an area that exposes hundreds of miles of their beaches, estuaries and keys to potentially devastating oil leaks. Anyone remember the Deepwater Horizon disaster? The Santa Barbara blowout? A president who has the best interests of the nation at the forefront of his decision making process would, instead of seeking to expand production of fossil fuels, begin through regulations to reduce its production and our reliance on it. At the same time, she would work to expand production of renewable energy and the infrastructure to achieve the vital goal of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases to as close to zero as we can. And lead the rest of the world in making the same conversion. But we don’t have that president. For now. Florida voters, I hope you’re paying attention.” [Los Angeles Times, 6/12/20 (+)]

 

Northeast States Hit Snag On Offshore Wind: Trump. According to E&E News, “If you look at state climate plans in the Northeast, they have two things in common. They all call for massive reductions in greenhouse gases. And they rely heavily on offshore wind to achieve that goal. New York wants to build 9 gigawatts of offshore wind — which would grow installed power plant capacity in the state by almost a quarter. New Jersey is targeting 3.5 GW. Massachusetts is eyeing 3.2 GW. The only problem: The projects are dependent on permits from the Trump administration. President Trump is openly hostile to wind energy. At rallies, he often lies about the giant turbines, accusing them of causing cancer and killing massive numbers of birds. (Pet cats kill far more.) But until last year, his administration had proceeded with permitting the massive wind projects called for in the shallow waters along the Eastern Seaboard. That’s when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a division of the Interior Department, said it would require a cumulative impact study for Vineyard Wind, the first major development planned off Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. (Climatewire, Aug. 12, 2019). The move came as a surprise. BOEM already had finished a draft environmental impact study and signaled that a final decision would come by the end of 2019. The call for additional analysis was — at least in part — an acknowledgement of the demands of commercial fishermen, who said Washington had not considered the impact of the turbines on the fish they reel in.” [E&E News, 6/15/20 (=)]

 

Fisheries & Marine Life

 

Bill Would Make Fishermen Eligible For Pandemic Aid. According to E&E News, “A pandemic could be used as grounds to declare a national fisheries disaster, making thousands of fishermen eligible for federal aid, under a bipartisan bill introduced in the House last week. The bill, H.R. 7167, sponsored by Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Garret Graves (R-La.), would allow the change by amending the nation’s primary fisheries law, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which Congress passed in 1976. ‘For the last few months, many Maine fishermen and lobstermen have had almost nowhere to sell their catch because COVID-19 has nearly shut down demand for fresh seafood all over the world,’ Golden said. ‘Coronavirus is just as much of a disaster for this fishery as it would be if a Category 5 hurricane hit, and our lobstering and fishing communities deserve the same relief fisheries receive for other disasters.’ Graves said the nation needs to ‘make investments to help our anglers.’ He said, ‘In Louisiana, one out of every 70 jobs depends on the fishing industry, which generates billions of dollars annually through commercial and recreational fishing. Fishing serves as the economic engine of many coastal communities, the heartbeat of our nation’s economy.’” [E&E News, 6/15/20 (=)]

 

Sea-Level Rise

 

A $4.6 Billion Plan To Storm-Proof Miami. According to NPR, “Thirteen-foot-high floodwalls could line part of Miami’s waterfront, under a proposed Army Corps of Engineers plan being developed to protect the area from storm surge. The $4.6 billion plan is one of several drafted by the Corps of Engineers to protect coastal areas in the U.S, which face increased flood risks stoked by climate change. Similar projects are already underway in Norfolk, VA and Charleston, SC. The plan for Miami-Dade County, which is open for public comment, is intended to protect the 2.8 million people who live there from coastal flooding and storm surge during tropical storms and hurricanes. Many are concerned that the system of floodwalls, pumps and surge barriers doesn’t directly address a threat many in South Florida are already dealing with more frequently than storms: rising sea levels. Chronic flooding is a problem for some neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County during heavy rain events and seasonal king tides. Global warming is also making hurricanes more powerful, according to a recent study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Miami is among the cities most vulnerable to sea-level rise globally, which means that storm surges driven by hurricanes will be even higher and potentially more destructive than in the past.” [NPR, 6/13/20 (+)]

 

Ocean Health & Management

 

White House Aims To Speed Permitting For Ocean Research, Mapping. According to Bloomberg Law, “A White House working group said Thursday it wants to streamline permitting for exploring, mapping, and researching the ocean as part of a plan to explore and better understand the nation’s offshore. Under the plan, the White House Ocean Policy Committee will ‘address recurring or systemic permitting and authorization issues’ under such statutes as the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Trump administration has pushed for expanded offshore oil drilling, but the Ocean Policy Committee plan focuses on exploration and doesn’t specifically address drilling.” [Bloomberg Law, 6/11/20 (=)]

 

'Timely And Healing': Bill Would Expand Focus On Blue Carbon. According to E&E News, “A bipartisan climate change bill introduced in the Senate yesterday calls for more research on blue carbon ecosystems and would create an interagency working group to oversee it. ‘Blue carbon ecosystems — like kelp, seagrass, salt marshes and mangroves — play a critical role in protecting our shorelines from sea-level rise and erosion. They also store an incredible amount of carbon, making them an important tool for addressing climate change,’ said Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who sponsored the bill along with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). ‘Blue carbon ecosystems can help to address the dramatic impacts Alaska is seeing from climate change, including coastal erosion and ocean acidification,’ Murkowski added. Murkowski chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Appropriations subcommittee with power over environmental agencies. She and Whitehouse are co-chairs of the Senate Oceans Caucus. The senators said their bill, called the ‘Blue Carbon for Our Planet Act,’ would highlight the habitats that remove carbon out of the atmosphere and combat the effects of climate change. In addition to expanding research, the bill would set measurable targets for protecting and restoring coastal blue carbon ecosystems. The proposal would also create a national inventory of coastal blue carbon sources and direct the National Academy of Sciences to study the potential for carbon storage in deep seafloor environments.” [E&E News, 6/12/20 (=)]

 

 

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