Saving Seafood

CALIFORNIA: Local fishing voices are left out of offshore wind discussions

July 16, 2021 — The waters off the shore of Morro Bay have been the focal point of a potential wind farm development site since 2015.

Between 2015 and 2017, a state intergovernmental task force that evaluated offshore wind power for the state of California was established, and its members included the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Morro Bay mayor and a City Council member, and regional state representatives. However, the fishing industry was largely left out.

At the time, the community engaged with the task force through public hearings to learn about the project’s blueprints—although its potential impacts weren’t shared. The project was halted in 2018 because the then-designated area conflicted with naval operations.

Public conversations about offshore wind regained steam in 2021 for two reasons. U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) led an effort to work with the U.S. Department of Defense to reduce the project development area to 399 square miles—enough to produce 3 gigawatts of energy. Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization President Tom Hafer said he believes there’s also a renewed interest in this type of energy generating project because of the new presidential administration.

Castle Wind has engaged with organizations and leaders within the fishing community, but there’s no guarantee that it will be the project developer. Annie Hawkins, executive director for the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), said that proactive engagement is needed from all agencies involved.

RODA was established and worked on the East Coast because there were concerns about the exclusion of fishing voices during offshore wind project discussions. Their first project was Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island, which is a five-turbine wind farm.

Read the full story at The New Times

CALIFORNIA: Fishermen voice concerns over Morro Bay wind farm

June 18, 2021 — During the June 8 SLO County Board of Supervisors meeting, several commercial fishermen called in during public comment and submitted letters requesting the board pause on approving a resolution that supported initiatives to develop wind energy.

The resolution, which supervisors pulled from the agenda, recognized the potential for renewable wind power generation and clean energy infrastructure to bring long-term economic benefits to San Luis Obispo County.

Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization President Tom Hafer submitted a letter to the board talking about the issues that fishermen face with a potential offshore wind development project area spanning 399 square miles of ocean off the Central Coast—the approved area size was announced May 25 by the White House and U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara).

Read the full story at The New Times

CALIFORNIA: New plan could bring wind turbines closer to SLO County’s shore. And people aren’t happy

July 31, 2020 — A task force working to bring offshore wind energy to the Central Coast suggests moving a proposed wind farm much closer to San Luis Obispo County’s shore after the U.S. Navy once again balked at the idea of erecting up to 100 floating turbines in an area of the Pacific Ocean where it conducts maneuvers.

The new plans, however, have already drawn objections from Morro Bay leaders and the fishing industry, who are worried about the impacts.

Meanwhile, Congressman Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, who has been negotiating with the Navy since 2016 to bring offshore renewable energy to the Central Coast, introducted legislation to compel the military back into talks after it apparently reversed course on a working agreement reached earlier this year.

On July 1, the same day Carbajal’s staff was offering ideas at a public webinar hearing on new proposals to launch the offshore wind industry, Carbajal offered an amendment to the Department of Defense’s annual appropriation that was designed to bring the Navy back into the conversation.

Read the full story at The Saint Luis Obispo Tribune

Deal emerges to bring 1st offshore wind farms to California

February 24, 2020 — Offshore wind developers are lining up to build the first wind turbines off the coast of California.

But they have a problem called the Department of Defense.

For years, the military has managed to block the establishment of offshore wind lease areas off of Southern and central California, effectively holding back development across the entire state.

Defense officials have said turbines would interrupt training exercises run by the Navy, the Air Force and other branches of the military out of a network of Southern and central California bases.

Wind could interfere with radar and other instruments of communication, and get in the way of low-altitude flights and live-fire operations, they say.

Now, a tentative compromise is being floated by Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) with backing from the military and federal and state agencies: Let developers produce wind power in central California waters that the military had once ruled incompatible with its own operations, in exchange for a moratorium on turbines in other nearby waters. Details of the compromise were described to E&E News by the congressman and Defense and state officials involved in negotiations.

At stake could be the prospects for the first offshore wind farm on the West Coast and likely the country’s first to use floating turbines at large scale.

Offshore wind also could help California meet its 2045 goal of decarbonizing electricity, in part because offshore turbines would complement solar by producing more energy at night, helping getting around the “duck curve” challenge.

Read the full story at E&E News

California Congressman Makes New Push For Marine Sanctuary Off Central Coast

June 8, 2018 — Even though the Trump Administration is proposing to open parts of the California coastline to new oil exploration, a Santa Barbara congressman is pushing for more protections.

Democratic Congressman Salud Carbajal is urging Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to follow up on a proposal to create the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.

It would be created on the Central Coast between the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The designation could preserve submerged Chumash cultural sites and protect marine resources.

Read the full story at KCLU

What They Are Saying: Democrats Call for Antiquities Act Transparency

October 11, 2017 — The following was released by the House Committee on Natural Resources through its newsletter The Scope:

If there’s anything we learned from the recent national monument review and decades of Antiquities Act (Act) abuse, it’s that Republicans and Democrats finally want the same thing: transparency and public input in the Act’s uses.

Ironically, for Democrats, it’s also an admission of the underlying problem – a statute that provides the president with unilateral authority to dictate national monument decisions in secrecy and without public input. It’s a recognition that the only path to creating the accountability we all seek – no matter which party controls the White House – is to amend the Act itself.

Thankfully, we have a solution: Chairman Bishop’s “National Monument Creation and Protection Act” or “CAP Act.”

Over the past months, Democrats have gone above and beyond to argue the importance of transparency in the executive’s use of the Act and for local communities to have a voice in the process. Well, we agree.

TRANSPARENCY:

  • Ranking Member Raul Grijalva (D-AZ): “It has been opaque and it has been contrived.”
  • Ranking Member Raul Grijalva: “…let’s see some transparency and public accountability.”
  • Rep. Ruben Kihuen (D-NV): “It’s obviously very, very disappointing in the lack of specificity and transparency.”
  • Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA): “The American people deserve to know what the President’s intentions are.”
  • Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA): “[T]he American people deserve transparency and honesty.”
  • Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam): “The people of Guam deserve transparency…”

NOTE: While protecting the chief executive’s authority to designate monuments, the “CAP Act” requires proper environmental review and safeguards for public notice and coordination.

PUBLIC INPUT:

  • Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR): “…should focus on addressing local input…”
  • Rep. Ruben Kihuen: “This whole process has been a sham. There hasn’t been transparency… listen to the American people.”
  • Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA): “…zero interest in hearing directly from the people who would be most impacted.”
  • Rep. Grace Napolitano: “…listen to my constituents as well as local stakeholders on what the monument means to our community.”
  • Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM): “It doesn’t come as a surprise that local voices were not taken into consideration…”
  • Sen. Martin Heinrich: “…a sloppy, inaccurate, and Washington-first work product devoid of local engagement. [N]ew Mexicans…are in the dark about what is going to happen…”

NOTE: While protecting the chief executive’s authority to designate monuments, the “CAP Act” requires all county commissions, state legislatures, and Governors in the area to approve of new monuments between 10,000 and 85,000 acres.

POLITICALLY DRIVEN PROCESS:

  • Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR): “…a politically driven process.”
  • Rep. Grijalva: “…choosing to appease… special interest friends instead of listening to the American people.”
  • Sen. Martin Heinrich: “It’s clear this…is a politically driven attempt by Washington.”
  • Sen. Martin Heinrich: “The public deserves better than predetermined political conclusions based on hearsay and claims that are easily disproven if the department had actually taken the time to listen to and work with local communities.”

NOTE: The “CAP Act” allows the president to make unilateral designations to protect resources under imminent threat while imposing public input requirements for larger monuments. It would end the era of politically motivated land grabs taking place in the dark of night, while restoring the Act’s intent.