Marine Renewable Energy

 

Bucking Trend, Offshore Wind Builds With Unions. According to Axios, “Unions are going offshore to find a receptive renewable energy. Driving the news: America’s nascent offshore wind industry, which requires uniquely complex infrastructure, is being built out with strong labor agreements that were largely absent from their onshore counterparts. ‘Things are changing with offshore wind, which is going to be a big job creator on the East Coast,’ says Phil Jordan, vice president at BW Research. ‘Most of those projects are going to be or already have been under project labor agreements, so a much higher percentage of those workers will be union members.’ The intrigue: In my recent column on how Biden’s climate plan is trying to bring unions into clean-energy industries, the numerous union officials, state officials and other experts I spoke with said the main exception to the trend that renewable energy lags on union representation was offshore wind. How it works: They said the reason is threefold: Local government policy supports it (especially in New York), union-friendly European firms are leading development, and the inherent complex nature of the tech calls for it. ‘There is no doubt an offshore wind project is a large infrastructure to the greatest degree,’ Doreen Harris, acting director of New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, told me recently. ‘The complexity and need for safety is in even sharper focus for the offshore wind industry than the land-based [wind] might be.’” [Axios, 7/30/20 (=)]

 

Fisheries & Marine Life

 

AP | More Seals Means Learning To Live With Sharks In New England. According to E&E News, “Seals are thriving off the Northeast coast thanks to decades of protections, and that victory for wildlife has brought a consequence for humans: more encounters with sharks. Seals are a favorite prey of large sharks such as the great white. The death this week of swimmer Julie Dimperio Holowach, who was killed by a great white off Harpswell, Maine, might have happened because the shark mistook her for a seal, authorities said (Greenwire, July 29). Swimmers off the New England states have learned to be more mindful in recent years due to a spate of sightings of great whites, the apex predator made famous in the movie ‘Jaws.’ A shark that killed a man off Cape Cod in 2018 was also believed to be a great white. That was the first fatal shark attack in Massachusetts in more than eight decades, while the death of Holowach on Monday was the first documented fatal shark attack in Maine history. ‘They’re not vindictive or mad or angry or preferring human flesh. They just occasionally make a mistake. And it’s tragic when they do,’ said Greg Skomal, a shark specialist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. ‘As we restore top predators, the potential for these interactions could increase.’ Incidents of shark bites remain vanishingly rare, especially in Northeastern waters. The International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida lists only 10 unprovoked shark attacks off New England, according to records that go back to 1837.” [E&E News, 7/30/20 (=)]

 

Finding More Sharks Off Maine’s Coast Could Change Our Relationship With The Ocean. According to Bangor Daily News, "Three days after a great white killed a swimmer off Bailey Island in Harpswell, officers from the Maine Marine Patrol continued to scour coastal waters for sharks by land and by sea. If they find a great white shark, they won’t kill it. Instead, state officials mostly seek information to document the presence of sharks and alert coastal communities. Scientists and researchers also hope to learn more information about the species, saying that photos and reports of sharks and seals killed by sharks are helpful to them. Those can be shared with their local marine patrol officer, including as much specific information as possible. ‘They tell us what species the shark is biting, where and when that’s happening, and the potential size and shape of the shark based on bite wounds,’ Greg Skomal, a shark expert from Massachusetts said of the photos of seals attacked by sharks. ‘That is very useful information. We can start to piece together the predatory behavior of white sharks.’ Skomal has been working closely with the Maine Department of Marine Resources since the shark attack in Harpswell, and identified the killer shark from a tooth fragment recovered from the scene. He said that sharks have become much more prevalent since seals were protected nearly 50 years ago under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and are especially numerous off the outer part of Cape Cod. His research crew has tagged 200 sharks so far." [Bangor Daily News, 7/31/20 (=)]

 

Washington State Officials Slam Navy’s Changes To Military Testing Program That Would Harm More Orcas. According to The Seattle Times, “A Navy military testing program that appeared headed to routine approval has hit a wall of opposition from Washington’s governor, attorney general and state agencies because of potential harm to endangered orcas in Washington waters. The program is being assessed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which has determined impacts from the Navy’s proposed testing to be ‘negligible’ and is drafting a final rule for implementation of the program. The Navy is working with its regulators to make changes in the program — though what those may be is far from clear. Planned military exercises range from testing torpedoes to firing projectiles from a gun into the sea at seven times the speed of sound, to piloting mine-detecting undersea drones, deploying underwater sonar and exploding up to 1,000 pound bombs at sea. The seven-year program would begin in November , and would be carried on across a vast area from northern California to Alaska, including Puget Sound and the outer coast of Washington. No southern resident orcas are proposed to be allowed to be killed under the program. But thousands of other marine mammals would be subjected to so-called Level A harassment, which covers a wide range of disturbance and harm up to and including death. Southern residents would be affected by Level B disturbance, which could interfere with their hunting, feeding, socializing and breeding. The Navy increased its estimate in a revised filing last December of the number of times southern residents would be subjected to level B disturbance by the program, from two times a year to 51 times a year.” [The Seattle Times, 7/29/20 (+)]

 

Ping! Orcas Threatened By Sonar Plan, Inslee And Enviros Tell Navy. According to KUOW-Radio, “The U.S. and Canadian navies have long done sonar testing in orca waters. Now, environmental groups and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee are fighting a U.S. Navy proposal that could harm up to 51 endangered orcas a year with piercing sounds of underwater sonar. The U.S. Navy’s plan for testing and training on the West Coast would send loud underwater pings into orca habitat, as close as 100 yards to the endangered whales, for another seven years. Navy sonar can be hard to listen to. While the US Navy proposal includes steps to protect whales from the impacts of sonar and underwater explosions, it would allow sonar testing as close as 100 yards from the endangered orcas. Shipboard spotters would be on the lookout for orcas getting closer than a football field away. The plan would allow an annual 51 ‘takes’— a term referring to disturbances or harm of an endangered species — of southern resident orcas. For example, a single orca’s feeding or other behaviors might be disrupted 51 times, or 51 orcas might be disturbed once a year. The southern resident killer whales are down to 72 animals, with at least three of them known to be pregnant this summer.” [KUOW-Radio, 7/30/20 (=)]

 

Hypersonic Weapons Testing Faces A Big Problem: Killer Whales. According to Popular Mechanics, “Washington State officials want the U.S. Navy to modify a training program predicted to cause harm to killer whales and other marine mammals living in the Puget Sound area. The Navy plans to test a variety of weapons along the West Coast during a seven-year period, including what the The Seattle Times describes as a ‘projectile’ flying at ‘seven times the speed of sound.’ This is undoubtedly the Navy’s new Hyper Velocity Projectile, a hypersonic weapon designed to bombard enemy territory and shoot down enemy missiles. The Seattle Times writes that the Navy’s planned, routine seven-year exercise period has run into opposition from Washington’s governor, attorney general, and state agencies, all of whom state that the exercises would affect local marine mammals ‘hunting, feeding, socializing, and breeding,’ including orcas in the southern Puget Sound region. The proposed exercises would take place in the Navy’s Northwest Training Range Complex, a swathe of ocean 250 miles running along the West Coast from California to Washington. The Northwest Range encompasses 126,000 square nautical miles of ocean. The federal Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), passed in 1972, prohibits the killing of all types of marine mammals. Further, it prohibits ‘take,’ which is defined as ‘to harass, feed, hunt, capture, or kill any marine mammal, or to attempt to do so.’ The Navy estimates the southern population of killer whales in the Puget Sound region could be subject to the non-lethal take two to 51 times a year during the seven years of Navy activity. Other marine mammals could be subject to similar take nearly two million times over the same period.” [Popular Mechanics, 7/30/20 (+)]

 

Sea-Level Rise

 

Rising Seas Could Menace Millions Beyond Shorelines, Study Finds. According to The New York Times, “As global warming pushes up ocean levels around the world, scientists have long warned that many low-lying coastal areas will become permanently submerged. But a new study published Thursday finds that much of the economic harm from sea-level rise this century is likely to come from an additional threat that will arrive even faster: As oceans rise, powerful coastal storms, crashing waves and extreme high tides will be able to reach farther inland, putting tens of millions more people and trillions of dollars in assets worldwide at risk of periodic flooding. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, calculated that up to 171 million people living today face at least some risk of coastal flooding from extreme high tides or storm surges, created when strong winds from hurricanes or other storms pile up ocean water and push it onshore. While many people are currently protected by sea walls or other defenses, such as those in the Netherlands, not everyone is. If the world’s nations keep emitting greenhouse gases, and sea levels rise just 1 to 2 more feet, the amount of coastal land at risk of flooding would increase by roughly one-third, the research said. In 2050, up to 204 million people currently living along the coasts would face flooding risks. By 2100, that rises to as many as 253 million people under a moderate emissions scenario known as RCP4.5. (The actual number of people at risk may vary, since the researchers did not try to predict future coastal population changes.) ‘Even though average sea levels rise relatively slowly, we found that these other flooding risks like high tides, storm surge and breaking waves will become much more frequent and more intense,’ said Ebru Kirezci, a doctoral candidate at the University of Melbourne in Australia and lead author of the study. ‘Those are important to consider.’” [The New York Times, 7/31/20 (=)]

 

Coastal Flooding Could Hit Nearly 20% Of Global GDP As Climate Change Accelerates Storms, Sea Level Rise. According to CNBC, “Coastal flooding made worse by climate change could damage assets worth up to $14.2 trillion by 2100 as rising seas inundate coastal homes and infrastructure, according to new research published on Thursday in Scientific Reports. Without worldwide investment in flood defenses or a decrease in global emissions, the outlook is stark: Within the century, the land area flooded will increase by 48% (roughly the size of France), the population impacted will increase by 52% (about 287 million people) and the infrastructure affected will increase by 46%, which will comprise about 20% of global GDP, researchers warned. ‘We are attempting to understand the magnitude of the global scale impacts of future coastal flooding,’ said Ian Young, a professor at the University of Melbourne and an author of the study. ‘Globally we need to understand that changes of this nature will occur by 2100 and we need to plan how we are going to respond,’ he said. Researchers analyzed data on global sea level rise projections under various greenhouse gas emission scenarios and focused on areas of the world at risk of flooding from factors like storm surge, tides and ocean waves. A total of 68% of the global coastal area flooded will be a result of tide and storm events and 32% will be a result of regional sea level rise. Flooding will cause the most damage in the northeast U.S., northwest Europe, southeast Asia and northern Australia.” [CNBC, 7/30/20 (=)]

 

Arctic Environment

 

Fires, Heat And A Cyclone. Arctic Breaks Melting Record. According to E&E News, “Arctic sea ice hit an all-time low for July against a backdrop of record-breaking temperatures and raging wildfires at the northern reaches of Earth. Then a cyclone began swirling over the thinning ice this week. Taken together, those conditions have made scientists concerned about what the rest of the season may hold as thousands of miles of sea ice melts away every day. Ice cover in the Arctic Ocean hit an all-time low for this time of year on July 15, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Sea ice was disappearing at a rate of more than 56,400 square miles a day earlier this month compared with the typical rate of 33,000 square miles. Satellites have never seen so little ice in July. The Siberian coast has been hit hardest. The Northeast Passage, a shipping route along the Russian shoreline, was ice-free two weeks ago. Sea ice typically continues to melt in the Arctic Ocean through the summer, hitting its lowest point in September, before it begins to refreeze. Given the remarkable season so far, some experts have speculated that it could reach an all-time low in September. That record was last broken in 2012, the most extreme year in history for Arctic ice cover. Sea ice extent that year was 18% lower than the previous all-time low in 2007 and nearly 50% lower than the average between 1979 and 2000. Those records might be toppled this year.” [E&E News, 7/31/20 (=)]

 

Ocean Health & Management

 

Lobstermen Ask High Court To Hear Monument Challenge . According to The Salem News, “The legal battle over the creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the coast of Massachusetts is starting to feel like the Hundred Years’ War in Europe of the 14th and 15th centuries. Commercial fishing interests, with the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association as lead plaintiffs, this week filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its challenge of the use of the federal Antiquities Act by President Barack Obama in 2016 to create the 5,000 square-mile marine national monument about 130 miles off Cape Cod. The petition represents the third time fishing interests have tried legal challenges to the creation of the only marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean. They were unsuccessful in the first two. In the petition, attorneys representing the MLA and other commercial fishing stakeholders, question whether the Antiquities Act ‘applies to ocean areas beyond the United States’ sovereignty where the federal government has only limited regulatory authority.’ The petition charges the use of the Antiquities Act circumvents the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and questions whether Obama evaded the Antiquities Act’s ‘smallest area requirement’ by designating ‘ocean monuments larger than most states.’ It also maintains that the use of the act to create the marine national monument is a threat to the Constitution’s separation of powers.” [The Salem News, 7/31/20 (=)]

 

Lawmakers Approve Ocean Research, Landslide Bills. According to E&E News, “The Senate last night approved legislation to reauthorize the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act. The bill, S. 914, from Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), would also establish a National Water Center. The Senate approved an amended version. The bill would extend and revise the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System, which provides information about the nation’s coasts, oceans and Great Lakes. The National Water Center already exists at NOAA. The legislation would give the office statutory authority.” [E&E News, 7/31/20 (=)]

 

 

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