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Why Tidal Energy? Two recent DOE reports estimate that wave and tidal energy off thenation?s coasts could contribute signif- icantly to the total annual electricityproduction of the U.S., or up to 15% of its electricity by 2030. Companies like Verdant Power are tapping into this available energy source by devel- oping projects in the East River of New York. On January 23, 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted Verdant Power the first commercial license for tidal power in the U.S. The ?Smart from the Start? Initiative Giving credit where credit is due, one must give credit to Secretary Ken Salazar and his Department of the Interior (DOI) for developing the ?Smart from the Start? Initiative. Secretary Salazar announced this ini- tiative on November 23, 2010 to accel- erate the responsible development of renewable energy resources on the Atlantic OCS. The main objective is to identify areas on the OCS, so-called Wind Energy Areas (WEAs), which are best suited for wind development. The underlying authority for thedevelopment is Section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Federal law enables DOI to lease areas of the OCS for wind develop- ment. However, this jurisdiction does not extend to State waters. DOI rec- ognized early on that bringing the wind onshore would require collabora- tion with the States along the Atlantic. As a result, DOI supported a series of Task Forces, comprised of federal, state, local, and tribal stakeholders, toresolve use conflicts and identify the most suitable WEAs. While there have been stops and MTR#4 (18-33):MTR Layouts 4/27/2012 10:06 AM Page 25