West Coast Publishing Ocean 2014 affirmative page

A2: Disadvantages and CPs

A2: Disadvantage / Turn Uniqueness

Private companies are expanding ocean wind energy globally now

Llewellyn King, Staff Writer, October 2012, “Ocean Power the Ignored Alternative,” Oil Price.com, http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/ Renewable-Energy/Ocean-Power-the-Ignored-Alternative.html, Accessed 4/11/2014

At the semi-annual International Conference on Ocean Energy, held here this year, unfettered, engineering is the driver. One participant told me, “This is a sandbox for engineers to play in.” Since the beginning of time man has dreamed of the challenge of harnessing the power of the oceans, with their currents, tides and waves. It was talked about seriously during the energy crisis of the 1970s, and then largely forgotten. In the early years of the alternative energy industry, engineers enthused about the tidal rise of Canada’s Bay of Fundy and France’s Bay of Biscay as sources of power. Ocean power is more energy dense than wind power. But when it was apparent that no single machine could be developed to generate ocean power, enthusiasm waned. Wind turbines can be standardized, but currents, tides and waves are a site-specific energy source. As a result wind, solar, geothermal and biomass got the alternative energy development attention and the bulk of the funding. Ocean energy stayed in the speeches, a gleam in the eye of a small group of developers scattered around seafront nations. Now there is an ocean energy movement. In more than 20 countries, private companies are developing first-generation water turbines.

A2: Coal Disadvantages

Coal is being retired now and this increase demand for offshore wind

Michael Hahn and Patrick Gilman, Navigant Consulting, Inc., October 17, 2013, Offshore Wind Market and Economic Analysis, Prepared for: U.S. Department of Energy, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/offshore_wind_market_and_economic_analysis.pdf, Accessed 5/10/2014

In recent years, some electric utilities in the United States have announced plans to retire coal-fired power plants or to convert them to natural gas. Navigant analysis reveals executed and planned retirements through 2017 that exceed 37 GW. There are multiple factors involved in these retirement decisions. Many of the United States’ coal-fired power plants are over 50 years old and expensive to continue to operate and maintain. Complying with environmental requirements, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) mercury and air toxics standards and proposed carbon dioxide emissions limits, can also be costly. While the reduction in generation capacity created through coal plant retirements will certainly not be filled entirely by a variable-output resource such as wind, continued coal plant retirements could play a role in increasing the demand for offshore wind plants in the United States.

Coal plants are being retired now. We need offshore wind to fill demand

Michael Hahn and Patrick Gilman, Navigant Consulting, Inc., October 17, 2013, Offshore Wind Market and Economic Analysis, Prepared for: U.S. Department of Energy, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/offshore_wind_market_and_economic_analysis.pdf, Accessed 5/10/2014

In terms of coal, Navigant analysis reveals executed and planned coal plant retirements through 2017 that exceed 37 GW. As this capacity is removed from the U.S. electric generation base, it will need to be replaced by other power generation resources, including but not limited to natural gas and offshore wind. As such, continued coal plant retirements could increase the demand for offshore wind plants in the United States.

A2: Politics – Bipartisan Support

There is bipartisan support for extending wind tax credits

NAWP (North American Wind Power), Staff Writer, March 25, 2014, “144 Congress Members Call For Wind PTC, ITC Extensions,”

http://www.nawindpower.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.12761, Accessed 5/14/2014

Members from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have signed bipartisan letters urging their colleagues to act quickly and extend the wind energy production tax credit (PTC) and the investment tax credit (ITC). Sens. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Reps. Steve King, R-Iowa, and Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, headed the effort. According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the letters call on Congress to encourage more private investment by stabilizing the U.S. industry and averting another falloff like 2013’s 92% drop in domestic wind power installations.

A2: Agency CPs

Permutation: Do both. Concurrent action leads to greater efficiency

Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Wind & Water Power Program and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, February 2011, A National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Energy Industry in the United States, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/ national_offshore_wind_strategy.pdf, Accessed 4/13/2014

Agencies must consider a range of environmental and cultural resources, protected areas, and competing uses when permitting the installation of offshore wind power projects. Some of the key environmental resources of concern are bird and bat species, marine mammals, pelagic and benthic species and habitats, and water quality. Historic preservation sites, such as notable shipwrecks or coastal structures, and tribal resources, such as burial grounds or other ocean areas with cultural or religious significance, must also be considered in the siting process. Certain ocean areas are protected or restricted from development, including NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries, coastal National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges, DoD limited access areas, or designated ship navigation lanes. Finally, wind project siting must consider competing uses of the ocean space, including ship navigation, commercial fishing, DoD training and operations, and other activities.

Coordinated and concurrent project review processes can lead to efficiency gains in the permitting of offshore wind projects. In some cases, these opportunities for increased efficiency are already recognized and can be quickly adopted. In other cases, collaboration is needed to identify the potential efficiencies to be gained through coordinated and concurrent project review. Adoption of such process efficiencies, including implementation of the National Ocean Policy and coastal and marine spatial planning, can help protect natural resources, protected areas, and competing uses when permitting offshore wind energy facilities in the nation’s ocean and Great Lakes waters. Additionally, the development and use of best management practices can provide valuable tools for mitigating the impacts of offshore wind projects on wildlife and ecosystems.

A2: Agency CPs

The CP is normal means. The Departments of Energy and the Interior already work closely and would coordinate for offshore wind

Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Wind & Water Power Program and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, February 2011, A National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Energy Industry in the United States, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/ national_offshore_wind_strategy.pdf, Accessed 4/13/2014

DOE is uniquely positioned to play a catalytic role in addressing market barriers by bringing depth of knowledge of the technology and the industry, technical and financial resources, and a positive history of working across agencies and stakeholders, which will help in identifying administrative efficiencies to overcome regulatory barriers. Similarly, as the primary agency with jurisdiction over proposed offshore wind projects in federal waters, DOI can convene agencies and stakeholders to share information, identify challenges, and find solutions. The OSWInD and Smart from the Start initiatives will engage federal and state regulators, resource management agencies, and outside stakeholders to drive collective action toward creating an offshore wind industry. This engagement will include the establishment of additional formal working arrangements such as memoranda of understanding with key agencies, as well as interagency working groups. For example, DOE and DOI entered into an MOU on the future development of commercial offshore renewable energy projects on the OCS (see DOE/DOI MOU and Action Plan text box), which formalizes the close working relationship between the two agencies and their shared goal of supporting commercial offshore renewable energy projects. DOE is also working with ACOE to develop permitting processes for offshore wind energy in the Great Lakes under the auspices of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. DOI has entered into an MOU with 11 coastal states to establish the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium (AOWEC), which will identify ways to facilitate the development of Atlantic offshore wind energy. AOWEC action plans are being incorporated into the Smart from the Start initiative and will identify means to reduce deployment timelines and support the development of the offshore wind industry.