Together with Senator Mark Begich of Alaska, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe has introduced the Renewable Energy Environmental Research Act of 2009 (pdf). The proposed legislation aims to coordinate the collection and dissemination of environmental data so crucial to the development of marine energy resources. Under the proposed bill, $100M would be appropriated to NOAA each year 2010 through 2014, with the requirement that up to 50% of the funds would be made available to educational institutions and to states with federally-approved coastal zone management programs (pdf).
As shown on this interactive map, every New England state (other than Vermont, which lacks a seacoast) is already working with NOAA on coastal and ocean management issues. Of course, as Senator Snowe’s press release suggests, the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, which has partnered with Norway’s StatoilHydro to investigate the potential of off-shore wind, would be a natural recipient for this kind of funding. (For more on this program, see our previous post.) But with multiple off-shore energy projects in various stages of development in Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the impact of this bill would be felt throughout the region.
The environmental data covered by the proposed legislation is of great interest to environmental advocates, who want to make sure off-shore development won’t cause unreasonable harm to the habitats where they’re built. The data is also of critical importance to developers – and their potential investors - who have been calling (pdf) for the refinement, integration and standardization of this kind of environmental data in order to minimize the risks associated with both permitting these projects and their eventual productivity.
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