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9 Sea Grant L. & Pol'y J. 45 (2018)
Still Spinning: A Look at the Federal Legal Landscape of Offshore Wind Energy in the United States

handle is hein.journals/sglum9 and id is 47 raw text is: SEA GRANT LAW & POLICY JOURNAL VOL. 9:1 STILL SPINNING: A LOOK AT THE FEDERAL LEGAL LANDSCAPE OF OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY IN THE UNITED STATES Wilson Jarrell' I. INTRODUCTION As the effects of climate change become more apparent and well known, we are increasingly conscious of where our energy comes from and what the consequences of using that energy are. With oil and coal carrying a stigma for being exceptionally harmful and natural gas becoming associated with the dangerous practice of hydraulic fracturing, society is turning to more sustainable ways to fulfill our energy demands. As we look at new technologies and ideas of how to meet our needs, the resources of our nation's oceans become more intriguing as a source of clean, renewable energy. Offshore wind energy seems particularly exciting, given advances in technology and 4,223 GW of potential 2 power off of our coasts. However, we must consider the environmental and economic impacts of siting a wind energy project offshore and the legal duties imposed by laws and regulations. The current system implemented by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) of the Department of the Interior (DOI) is in violation of some of our nation's environmental laws, as well as representing poor planning as to our oceans' resources. This article focuses on the legal and planning deficiencies of BOEM's current offshore wind resource management scheme. First, this article briefly discusses the history of offshore energy in this country and the political climate surrounding it. Then, it provides a brief summary of offshore wind technology. This article will then look at federal regulation of the outer continental shelf (OCS), discussing the evolution of the renewable energy regulatory scheme in the United States, both in its initial formation as well as more recent additions. Subsequently, this article will provide a critique of the United States' current system of offshore leasing for wind energy on first a legal, then a practical level. First, this article will posit that BOEM is inadequately performing its 1 Wilson Jarrell is a 2018 graduate of the University of Oregon School of Law. Having grown up in Los Angeles, Wilson fled north to Humboldt State University, where he earned his Bachelor's degree in Mathematics. He came to the University of Oregon law school to learn how to put the skills he'd garnered as a mathematician to work helping people. 2 4,223 GW of power is enough energy to power between 950,175,000 and 1,266,900,000 average American homes a year. NAT'L RENEWABLE ENERGY LAB, U.S. RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNICAL POTENTIALS: A GIS-BASED ANALYSIS 15 (2012).

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