Page 12: of Marine Technology Magazine (October 2019)

Offshore Wind Energy & Politics

Joe Biden presents “The Biden Plan for A Clean Energy

Revolution and Environmental Justice.” Some impor- tant goals include: Double offshore wind generation by 2030; ban new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters.

Photo: Joe Biden (Of? cial White House photo by David Lienemann) “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.”

Daniel H. Burnham, American architect and urban planner

Joe Biden or the 2020 Democratic candidates, energy and climate change

Policy statement: are interrelated topics, really fused into one super-topic. For the “From coastal towns to rural farms to

Ds, climate action is needed now – bold, sweeping, all-inclusive, urban centers, climate change poses an and, yes, very expensive, action. This is existential, many of the existential threat – not just to our en-

F Ds write – our existence depends on direct action.

vironment, but to our health, our com-

Central to avoiding climate catastrophe is making electricity the singular munities, our national security, and our fuel – from keeping the lights on and your cell phone charged to industrial economic well-being.” production to transportation (maybe excepting aircraft). All of that electricity

Biden presents “The Biden Plan for is to come from non-carbon generation, primarily solar and wind. Whether

A Clean Energy Revolution and Envi- that’s feasible or even necessary, is today’s generational gamble.

ronmental Justice.” Some important

This report takes a quick look at some of the candidates’ positions on en- goals: ergy and climate. Ten candidates are included, selected not because of any • Double offshore wind generation in-house bias but because they are the top ten according to our poll of the by 2030.

• Ban new oil and gas permitting on political pollsters.

public lands and waters.

The candidates have much in common. There are no small plans, or at • Use renewables to produce car- least brief plans.

bon-free hydrogen at the same cost as

This summary is from a review of candidates’ web sites. Most do not speci? - that from shale gas.

cally address “offshore wind,” a focus of this column. Nevertheless, other • Develop inexpensive new nuclear topics, can impact offshore wind, e.g., broader, more general ideas about re- reactors.

newable energy or proposals for related federal programs.

• Implement carbon capture and se-

This review is not a ranking, an endorsement nor an attempt to ascribe sup- questration.

port or sense of electability. (Note: costs presented are estimates, of course; “On day one” Biden plans executive also, not all websites reference how a candidate might pay for new plans and orders “with unprecedented reach that programs.) go well beyond the Obama-Biden Ad- October 2019 12

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