Originally published February 15 2006
U.S. government developing green energy projects along outer continental shelf
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
As part of the Department of Interior, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is seeking to develop wind, solar and wave projects on the outer continental shelf of the United States.
Development of wind, wave, current and solar power projects on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf is now being structured by the federal government agency with oversight of oil and gas development.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS), part of the Department of the Interior, was empowered by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to assume authority for renewable energy projects, such as wave, wind or solar power on offshore lands.
There is as much wind power potential - 900,000 megawatts - off U.S. coasts as the current capacity of all power plants in the United States combined, according to a report issued last fall by the U.S. Department of Energy, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, and General Electric entitled, "A Framework for Offshore Wind Energy Development in the United States."
The greatest wind power potential is located offshore of the highly populated urban coastal areas of the Northeast, the report found, and it recognizes the roles of Cape Wind and the Long Island offshore wind project in creating the momentum to develop offshore wind power in the United States.
"Offshore renewable energy technologies are still in their infancy," said MMS Acting Director Walter Cruickshank in a Federal Register notice posted December 30, 2005 requesting public comment on the agency's new OCS Renewable Energy Program.
Because use of these submerged lands for renewable power generation is so new, Cruickshank is encouraging commenters to address issues such as the precise criteria MMS should consider in deciding whether or not to approve a project - balancing environmental considerations, for instance, with energy needs.
"Environmental management systems and review will be critical components of any activity in the new program," Cruickshank said, indicating that the environmental management systems will rely on an adaptive management strategy that gathers and uses information, including monitoring and evaluation of activities and their environmental consequences.
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