7th MARINE LAW SYMP. - Wrap-Up Discussion & Conclusions

The moderator is Dennis Esposito, Esq. of Adler Pollock & Sheehan, PC
First question:  We don’t have time to wait to develop renewable energy offshore.  How can we get regulators to move us forward? 
Answer from audience - We need the political will.  Look at how much we are spending in Iraq.  The money could be there but it must be committed to the right things.  Think of the example in Europe.  There is political will there.  Professor Kempton - I don’t think we should be so sure that we don’t have political will.  Wendy Williams thinks that politicians are too afraid of making mistakes. There is too much caution in regards to renewable energy.  Someone else said that in 2004, Cape Wind had already finished an EIS that was submitted to the Army Corp.  When the 2005 Energy Act was passed, why couldn’t Cape Wind get some credit for what they had done already instead of having to begin all over again?

Moderator: Where does leadership come from to avoid having to prepare four EISs?  Someone from the audience answered:  An Executive Order might do it.

Moderator: We have to cut through some of the regulatory inertia.  The political will seems to be mostly on the state level. 
I’m not quite sure what Mr. Esposito is proposing.  No regulation?  It is true that there are some problems but hasn’t MMS made progress? 
Dennis suggests that the federal action should have to be consistent with state plans instead of the other way around.  He calls this a “reverse federal consistency”. 
Commentor from the audience:  It seems that from what we’ve learned over the past 2 days is that wind energy will not solve our energy problems.  We cannot keep growing our energy consumption at 2% annually.  Offshore wind can give us hope, but it is not going to reverse the “death-march” towards climate change as Senator Whitehouse mentioned. That is powerful language.  I think this is such a good point.  If we are going to talk about rushing and short cuts and we have no time… etc. we must talk about energy conservation and efficiency as well.
Another commentor:  European political will derives from the Chernovyll experience.  In Germany, the feed-in tariffs and grid connection regulation requiring the utility to pay for the grid connection is a result of the efforts of one member of parliament in Germany who really made it happen there.  Leadership is key.
Representative from NOAA:  I couldn’t hear what he was saying...sorry…
Commentor: There are some collaborations for example the Northeast Regional Ocean Consortium.  These are frequently voluntary efforts but they could end up really influencing regulatory processes.  We can’t go back to where we were years ago when we failed to fund research that would help us understand and learn more about the ocean environment that would possibly help us make the right regulatory decisions in a timely manner.  But the general attitudes towards environmental protection have changed in recent years and this is a source of hope.  It may lead to the necessary political will.
Carolyn Heeps:  Offshore wind has been the catalyst to bring many government agencies together.  This is a positive sign.  There will be some forthcoming national policy statements and these must be signed on by all the different sectors of government.  There is an Energy Policy Statement and a Marine Bill, these will require coordination.  She doesn’t think that public understanding is behind renewable energy really. 
Commentor:  The DOE is helping out and we shouldn’t ignore.  He gives the example of Hawaii where DOE has helped set a goal of 7% energy supplied by renewable sources.  They have helped fund an underwater cable.  Conferences like this help us to share information and move forward. 
Thank you all for coming and thanks for reading this blog!