U.S. Department of Interior Proposes First Ever Offshore Wind Lease Sale in Gulf of Mexico
April 3rd, 2023 — by Emma Tompkins — Category: Offshore Energy
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), is proposing the first-ever offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. The announcement follows the Biden administration’s plan to grow the country’s clean energy economy by expanding offshore wind opportunities across the country.
Judge Says No Offshore Lease Sale—Need More Environmental Impact Analysis First
March 17th, 2022 — by Caroline Heavey — Category: Offshore Energy
The D.C. District Court issued an on January 27 that voided a major oil and gas lease sale. Lease Sale 257 offered approximately 80.8 million acres of federal lands in the Gulf of Mexico, making it the largest offshore oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history.
Since coming into office earlier this year, President Biden and his administration have not been quiet about their desire to hasten the United States’s (U.S.) transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. In fact, one of President Biden’s first Executive Orders directed federal agencies to immediately end their subsidies for fossil fuels and double the nation’s capacity for offshore wind energy production by 2030.
Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) rejected a federal agency’s petition to overturn a state coastal management program consistency objection. The objection in question was to the Jordan Cove LNG project (Project). This proposal called for the construction of a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal and 229-mile natural gas pipeline.
The offshore wind energy industry on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) adjacent to the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions is on the verge of dramatic expansion. Currently, a single wind farm consisting of five turbines located three miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island is the only operational wind farm on the United States Atlantic coast.
Last week, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), a division of the Department of Interior (DOI), announced final changes to offshore drilling safety rules enacted following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The agency stated that it needed to amend the portions of the rule that caused “unnecessary burdens” on stakeholders. Many fear the changes could pave the way for another disaster like Deepwater Horizon.
