Saving Seafood

Senator Markey Announces Legislation to Bolster Offshore Wind Workforce Training

November 8, 2023 — Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety and a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, reintroduced the Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act, legislation that would support offshore wind workforce development that meets the needs of the offshore wind and maritime industry through a new grant program. More specifically, the Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act would help create thousands of good-paying union jobs in coastal communities through apprenticeship programs, maritime centers of excellence, and institutions of higher education.

The legislation would also help the Biden administration achieve its goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. First, the Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act would direct the Secretary of Labor to identify the offshore wind industry’s workforce needs by engaging with the offshore wind industry, maritime industry, eligible entities, local governments, ports, and nonprofit organizations. Based on this workforce gap analysis, the Secretary of Labor would establish a grant program in consultation with the Secretary of Energy to support the training of both new and current workers, provide tuition financing, and support apprenticeship programs.

“Billions of dollars in clean energy investments are being unlocked from the Inflation Reduction Act, including my Offshore Wind American Manufacturing Act. We must ensure that our offshore wind workforce is ready,” said Senator Markey. “The Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act would prepare workers with the skills and training needed to supercharge our grid with clean energy powered by offshore wind. I will continue to push for the winds of change to blow off the shores of Massachusetts and other coastal communities throughout the nation so that our workers can benefit from this clean energy force.”

“There is much work to be done to bring offshore wind online effectively and efficiently — that includes ensuring we have access to talent,” said Senator Whitehouse. “Our legislation will invest in job training programs to prepare the next generation of workers to fill well-paying jobs that help meet America’s offshore wind goals.”

“I’m proud that Virginia is developing the largest offshore wind project in the country, creating thousands of good-paying jobs,” said Senator Kaine. “This legislation will help us train the workforce we need to fill those jobs and expand economic growth. I will continue to do all that I can to help workers access job training programs and to create good-paying jobs in the Commonwealth.”

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

Offshore wind projects face economic storm. Cancellations jeopardize Biden clean energy goals

November 6, 2023 — The cancellation of two large offshore wind projects in New Jersey is the latest in a series of setbacks for the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, jeopardizing the Biden administration’s goals of powering 10 million homes from towering ocean-based turbines by 2030 and establishing a carbon-free electric grid five years later.

The Danish wind energy developer Ørsted said this week it’s scrapping its Ocean Wind I and II projects off southern New Jersey due to problems with supply chains, higher interest rates and a failure to obtain the amount of tax credits the company wanted. Together, the projects were supposed to deliver over 2.2 gigawatts of power.

The news comes after developers in New England canceled power contacts for three projects that would have provided another 3.2 gigawatts of wind power to Massachusetts and Connecticut. They said their projects were no longer financially feasible.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

NEW YORK: New Jersey’s offshore wind loss is New York’s burden to save Biden’s climate agenda

November 6, 2023 — In the long-running sibling rivalry between New Jersey and New York, the Garden State finally thought it had the upper hand.

The state, led by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, decided it could become one of the greenest in the country with offshore wind as its main pillar. But Murphy’s ambitious plans to make New Jersey’s power supply carbon-free by 2035 collapsed days ago when the developer Ørsted canceled two of the state’s three offshore wind projects.

Now, if President Joe Biden ever wants to meet his energy goals for the nation, New York and other Northeastern states are going to have to pick up New Jersey’s slack. And New York — the bigger sibling, the one with more money, more power and more attention — is poised to snatch away factories and jobs that New Jersey hoped for.

“We’re certainly the state with the greatest ambition at this point,” said Fred Zalcman, director of the New York Offshore Wind Alliance, which advocates for the industry.

New York has a lot riding on the success of offshore wind too. New efforts to save or replace at-risk projects the state has already approved are even more important after the New Jersey projects evaporated.

Offshore wind has long been seen as an essential power source for densely populated coastal states to meet ambitious climate targets. Wind farms don’t have to compete with people for land and send power to waterfront cities.

Approving new wind farms became a sometimes-competitive cause célèbre for Democratic leaders who wanted to expand maritime ports, open new factories and create union jobs. It also became something of a zero sum game, even though they share the same coastal waters.

Read the full article at Politico

Offshore wind is stumbling. Can Biden save the industry?

November 2, 2023 — The Biden administration is facing increasing pressure to take action to bolster the offshore wind industry after a major project was canceled in New Jersey on Tuesday, although options appear limited to ease financial hurdles facing developers.

So far, the administration is reiterating that the industry will continue to grow and that President Joe Biden’s goals for 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 will be achieved, even as many states and analysts say otherwise.

“Biden’s offshore wind goals look impossible at this point of time,” said Chelsea Jean-Michel, a wind analyst with BloombergNEF, a research and analysis firm.

Read the full article at E&E News

America’s Offshore Wind Ambitions Are Coming With Bigger Price Tags

November 1, 2023 — Soaring costs are pushing up the price of big wind-power projects, challenging the country’s shift to renewable energy and potentially leading to larger-than-expected bills for residents.

New York state officials in recent days unveiled a slate of wind-farm proposals that would result in higher electricity rates for residents than previously approved plans. That has firms behind older bids rushing to see if they can resubmit their plans at or near the new rate.

The projects are among the country’s biggest and are being closely watched because they show how a nascent industry that is key to the U.S. energy transition will work through the upheaval of escalating costs. The struggles are threatening delays in the current pipeline of projects, which analysts say could hamper the Biden administration’s offshore wind ambitions.

Read the full article at the Wall Street Journal

Biden administration moves toward more wind energy in Gulf of Mexico

October 31, 2023 — The Biden administration took a step Friday to advance the development of more wind energy in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Interior Department finalized four new “wind energy areas” where it can auction off the right to set up wind power.

Together, electricity produced at the four areas could be enough to power as many as 3.23 million homes combined, according to the administration.

Three of the locations are off the coast of Texas, while one is off the coast of Louisiana.

Elizabeth Klein, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said in a written statement that her agency is pursuing more offshore wind in the Gulf because of “continued industry interest and feedback from our partners and key stakeholders.”

Read the full article at The Hill

 

Biden administration announces USD 20 million in funding for fisheries management addressing climate change

October 28, 2023 — The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and NOAA announced an additional USD 20 million (EUR 18.9 million) in funding for NOAA to assist regional fishery management councils with tackling the impact of climate change on fisheries management.

The funding, according to a release from NOAA, will be provided via the Inflation Reduction Act to support the various councils’ work on climate-related fisheries management and implementation.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Delano: Biden administration won’t leave lobstermen alone

October 26, 2023 — Lawmakers and a federal appeals court last year defeated a federal plan to save endangered whales by eradicating New England’s lobster industry. With those plans undone, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is crafting a workaround scheme to regulate lobstermen out of the fishery.

Recent years have been brutal going for lobstermen, such that the survival of our trade is highly uncertain. Lobstermen are at once negotiating higher fuel costs, higher bait costs, higher shipping costs, and an agitation campaign from dark money nonprofits trained on major buyers of Maine lobster products. NOAA’s new regulatory plan is poised to decimate our inventory.

NOAA’s new plan – a rule promulgated under the Marine Mammal Protection Act – would expand an existing restricted area, where lobster fishing is banned for three months each year. The scope of the expansion is unclear as of this writing, but any expansion is unwelcome as a matter of precedent and a practical business matter.

As with the previous plan, NOAA is allegedly crafting its new rule to protect the endangered north Atlantic right whale. The agency maintains vessel strikes and entanglements with lobster gear are killing these marine mammals.

Read the full article at the Boston Herald

 

Biden-Harris Administration announces $20 million to boost red snapper science in the Southeast as part of Investing in America agenda

October 26, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced plans for $20 million in funding to address the impacts of climate change on red snapper and other reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico, as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. These funds will support the efforts of NOAA and the Gulf of Mexico states to determine the best tools to collect reliable recreational fishing data that support science and management decision-making for red snapper. 

The funding is from the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in history. It will strengthen NOAA’s efforts to share and exchange standardized state and federal data, harness the power of advanced technology and artificial intelligence to improve timeliness of data collection, and enhance state recreational data management systems for estimating landings, discards and fishing effort. 

“Red snapper is one of the Gulf of Mexico’s most iconic species and perhaps one of the region’s greatest management success stories,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “These funds, made possible by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, will improve NOAA’s data collection efforts and management decisions for red snapper and dozens of other species, thereby benefiting millions of anglers.” 

Distribution of these funds is underway, with NOAA Fisheries awarding the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission nearly $1.5 million through a cooperative agreement to modernize state recreational data management systems. The commission — in coordination with NOAA Fisheries — will work with state and federal partners to ensure common data standards, create and enhance certified state data systems and host workshops to improve data accuracy.

NOAA Fisheries intends to use the funding in the following three areas:

  • Develop and implement Gulf of Mexico video and acoustic camera surveys to improve reef fish data timeliness and generation of density estimates ($2 million).
  • Collaborate with Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission and state partners to increase accessibility of state survey data ($7.35 million).
  • Improve the estimates of recreational fishing effort and discards, which represent two of the greatest sources of uncertainty in managing and assessing Gulf of Mexico reef fish ($10.65 million).

“We know climate change is impacting many fish species, and these effects are not fully understood,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “With our partners at the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, we are working to improve state and federal recreational data collection so we can provide even more robust data and metrics to our fishing communities.”

Climate change has a specific impact on life in the ocean, as droughts, floods, rising seas, ocean acidification and warming waters change marine habitats and the behavior patterns of the wildlife in those habitats. 

This funding was first announced in June 2023 as part of the historic $3.3 billion in investments focused on ensuring America’s communities and economies are ready for and resilient to climate change.

Please visit NOAA’s Inflation Reduction Act website to learn about current and future funding opportunities.

NOAA aids Puerto Rico coral reef restoration through support of the Biden Administration

October 4, 2023 — The Biden administration awarded USD 34.4 million (EUR 32.5 million) in April toward projects to combat climate change in Puerto Rico, including ocean restoration.

Eight projects have been selected for grants to boost both economic and environmental outcomes for Puerto Rico’s coastal communities. The selected projects, the administration said, will benefit the community across Puerto Rico.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource