This morning , I get an exciting public press release from the Department of Energy : The federal bureau nowhas a strategyin place to significantly expand the U.S. ’s offshore wind capacitance . Under the shiny fresh “ Advancing Offshore Wind … ” plan , the DOE hope to supportthe Biden administration ’s exist goal of deploying 30 gigawattsof seaward wind energy by 2030 .
Wow , sounds great ! We jazz a clear roadmap for a federal agency . Plus , if we make it to 30 GW of offshore current of air , thatwould be more than 700 timesthe 42 megawatt we currently have in lieu . 30 GW would be enough get-up-and-go to power more than 10 million homes for a class , per a 2022Canary Media report .
Except , there ’s this one teeny , tiny , little affair bothering me .
The DOE seems to want you to imagine this oil rig is an offshore wind farmPhoto:Gerald Herbert(AP)
You see , the DOE ’s breaking wind plan is n’t the only bit of federal vitality news for Wednesday , March 29 . On the same daytime that President Joe Biden ’s Energy Department is rather breathlessly promoting its sustainable nothingness strategy ( “ transformative potential difference , ” “ we ’re leveraging all of the key resources … to harness this clean and reliable American energy author , ” “ importantly drive down America ’s carbon emissions ” ) , the presidency is also holding a monumental seaward fossil fuel auction .
Lease Sale 259takes place today . Through the auction , the Department of Interior is offer up the rights to more than 73 million acres of urine in the Gulf of Mexico to rock oil and accelerator companies compete to grow and drill . Yet for some mysterious reason , I did not have a Union crush release this cockcrow gasconade about that sale .
Biden campaigned on promise to end all fresh fossil fuel drilling on federal solid ground and waters . “ No more drilling on federal earth , period , ” he said during aFebruary 2020 campaign event . “ Period , menstruation , stop , ” he added . “No more drilling on federal demesne . No more drilling , including offshore . No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill , ” he say duringa March 2020 debateagainst Senator Bernie Sanders . understandably , those promiseshaven’t stick .
sooner this month , his administrationapproved the Willow oil production project in Alaska . In January , the Interior Department offer up nigh 1 million Alaskan offshore acres ( althoughthat lease sale founder ) .
Previously , Biden ’s DOI offset Lease Sale 259 , along with the Alaska auction and another planned Gulf sale . Yet then , the President overrule course . In negotiating the Inflation Reduction Act , Biden effectively ascertain more fogy fuel growing in federal weewee .
Some have argue un - cancelling the auctions was a necessary compromise to get the IRA passed and move U.S. clime action forward . But for others , it ’s a cleared sign that Bidenhasn’t taken his declared commitmentsto shift aside from fossil fuels seriously .
It ’s because of provisions in the IRA that Lease Sale 259 is move frontward , but “ there ’s nothing in the IRA that call for it to be so large , ” George Torgun , an lawyer for environmental practice of law mathematical group Earthjustice , told CNN . “ It ’s double the size of Willow . It ’s going to lock in fossil fuel development in the Gulf for the next 50 years , ” he added .
The DOI forecasted that just the boring and development result from the auction alone could emit about 21.2 million metric stacks of CO2 in itsenvironmental review — tantamount to about 4.6 million cars ’ yearly emissions . And that ’s not taking into account the actual emissions from the fossil fuel extract under Lease Sale 259 and after combust . Those “ downstream ” emissions are estimated to exceed 243.3 million metric tons of CO2 , per the judgement . In amount , it ’s almost 275 million metric slews of atomic number 6 dioxide that would n’t otherwise have put down the ambience .
No matter how many offshore windmill we make , climate change does n’t stop progressing unless and untilwe drastically reduce our burning of fossil fuels . The idea with renewables is thatthey should be replacing fossil fuels , not expanding alongside them .
Then , there are the issues ofoil spillsandlocal aura pollutionthat have plagued the Gulf neighborhood for decades , thanks to the petroleum industry . Expanding boring in the Gulf of Mexico hurts the clime , but it to boot harm the ecosystem and people nearby — peculiarly when fossil fuel society do n’t even take answerableness fortheir existing offshore infrastructure .
Multiple environmental groupsfiled a lawsuitagainst the DOI and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management originally this calendar month , in an endeavor to get the new lease sales agreement halted or invalidated on the basis that the environmental review was blemished . A former , like attempt against an 80 - million - acre lease sales event in the Gulfproved effective .
The resultant of the new cause is , at minimum , months away . In the interim , companies will stake their claims on millions of undeveloped acres in the Gulf . Ahead of the auction,27 fossil fuel corporationsexpressed interest group in bids coveringmore than 1.6 million acresof what Lease Sale 259 is offering .
expectant wind instrument plans or not , today does n’t quite experience like a climate win .
Bernie SandersEnergyEnergy developmentFossil fuelJoe Biden
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