William Y. Brown, Chief Environmental Officer for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) met with students, faculty and researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, San Diego State on Tuesday.
Brown discussed BOEM’s offshore energy mission and the role that the Office of Environmental Programs plays in ensuring the bureau meets its environmental stewardship responsibilities.
He was surprised by the amount of controversy the offshore wind projects get. For instance, Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound was welcomed by some environmentalists while other said it posed a threat to birds, the fishing industry and tourism.
Brown explained the BOEM’s role in managing the continued production of oil and gas off the Pacific coast while they are considering other forms of energy sources.
A 30MW WindFloat Pacific Demonstration Project is one of those projects being under the consideration.
Principle Power’s project, located 15 miles off Coos Bay, is hoping to get the environmental assessment approved by BOEM by the next summer.
He added the California can learn from this example.
“The coast of California and the Pacific has a lot of wind, that increases as you go farther north,” Brown concluded.