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Shale Gas Forum Examines Economic Benefits, Environmental Concerns of Natural Gas Production

Shale Gas Forum Examines Economic Benefits, Environmental Concerns of Natural Gas Production
Industry, Environmental Community Discuss Best Paths Forward

WASHINGTON, DC – Representatives from industry, state regulatory bodies, and the environmental community met today on Capitol Hill to discuss the economic role that natural gas production can play in the United States and Canada. The forum, hosted by the Canadian American Business Council (CABC) and Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), also examined potential environmental impacts and best practices for future development, including existing state regulations and industry standards.

Guy Caruso of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) gave the introduction, followed by morning keynote addresses by Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Eric Spiegel, President of Siemens Corporation. Representatives from the following companies and organizations also participated: Shell Oil, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), ExxonMobil, Canada West Foundation, Nucor Steel, Embassy of Canada, American Gas Association, GE Oil and Gas, and DOW. Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) gave the afternoon keynote address.

After the event, CEA President David Holt released the following statement:

“If we want to keep energy prices affordable and create new jobs in America, then increasing domestic energy production is absolutely necessary. Further, we must be committed to developing our energy resources both responsibly and efficiently. As the panelists at today’s forum articulated, producing more natural gas will not only bolster energy security and create good paying jobs, it will also foster the development of new technologies and innovation – all while helping both the United States and Canada maximize their competitiveness with the rest of the world.

“America needs a balanced energy policy that seeks to increase the availability of affordable energy supplies, and shale gas production, when done in an environmentally responsible manner, can and should be a major component of that policy.”

 

Distressing data

On the face of it, it might have appeared to be a minor blip of little significance last week when the Labor Department reported the nationwide unemployment rate rose to 9.1% in May, from 9.0% the month before. The problem, of course, is that we’re not talking about a change from 5.0 to 5.1%, but rather, almost double-digit unemployment, which has barely budged in more than two years. We’re talking about millions of people who have been unable to find employment for months, or years. We also learned last week that the number of jobs created in May was not sufficient to keep up with the growth in the working-age population, let alone move our tepid recovery into high gear.

Clearly this is a serious problem that has confounded policymakers on both sides of the political aisle. At CEA, we’ve repeatedly called for policies that will open more of the country to oil and gas exploration and drilling as well as encourage investment in all sorts of energy sources – from solar and wind to nuclear – which are commonly referred to as “alternative,” but which must play a role in a balanced domestic energy policy.  We cannot purport to have all of the answers to such a perplexing problem as high unemployment, particularly at a time of concern that the economy may be taking a turn for the worse, but we do know that this is a large problem that can only be tackled with appropriate job creation policies on multiple fronts.

Building a stronger domestic energy sector will help create jobs and stabilize prices. But if we fail to commit to the long-term sustainability of the energy industry, its ranks of workers will dwindle. The wind energy industry, for example, supported about 75,000 American jobs at the end of last year, but now fears that many of those jobs will be lost to China, which has consistently supported its own wind power sector with incentives to lower the cost of manufacturing at a time when U.S. policies appear subject to whim and sudden change. And in the oil sector, there are multiple examples – from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska – of policies and practices that have blocked drilling activity, either by banning it outright or delaying leasing.   All of these policies directly impact not only almost 10 million workers in the energy sector but also virtually every job in the U.S. that relies on energy (which is, of course, literally every job!).

Along with the ways energy policy influences energy supply and jobs, of course, it touches us all in our wallets. For several weeks now, we’ve been tracking the movement in gas prices, which are at the highest level in more than two years, further squeezing already strapped consumers. In recent weeks, those very high prices have begun to reverse course, but as the chart shows, they are still well above historic norms, and weighing heavily on our economic health. They may be moving in the right direction, but they are moving far too slowly. Last week’s employment data should serve to remind us all of the urgency of the current jobs crisis.

 

Thousands Call for Approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline

Thousands Call for Approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline
CEA Delivers More Than 62,000 Public Comments Supporting the Project

WASHINGTON, DC – In a strong display of broad public support for the Keystone XL pipeline, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) announced it had delivered more than 62,000 public comments in favor of the project. Notably, all of the comments, which CEA delivered over the weekend, were from people living in the six states through which the proposed pipeline will travel: Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The comments were sent to the U.S. Department of State, through which the Keystone XL project must gain approval before construction can begin, as part of a massive outpouring of public support nationwide.

After delivering the comments, Michael Whatley, executive vice president of CEA, released the following statement:

“Approving the Keystone XL pipeline is one of the most important actions the Administration can take to address high gasoline and diesel prices and to ensure stable energy supplies for years to come. But since the project was first announced in 2008, approval for Keystone XL has unfortunately undergone repeated delays. The over 62,000 comments that CEA delivered, as well as the tens of thousands of additional comments supporting Keystone XL, all send a clear message: American consumers neither want nor deserve any additional delays, and now is the time to approve this project that is so vital to North American energy security.”

The proposed pipeline would be 1,700 miles long and would connect oil production in Montana, the Dakotas, and the Canadian province of Alberta to refineries in Port Arthur, TX. At its peak the pipeline will deliver 700,000 barrels of oil per day and has the potential to end the United States’ dependence on Middle Eastern oil, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The pipeline received approval from Canada’s National Energy Board in 2010, but the project also requires a Presidential Permit from the U.S. Department of State. In March 2011, the State Department announced the project would undergo additional review, also known as a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS). After releasing a draft of the SEIS in April, the State Department by law had to allow 45 days for public comments.

 

Boom Towns

At a time when many of our political leaders are promoting policies that send jobs overseas and favor importing over producing key commodities like oil at home, a cynic might reasonably wonder if it is even possible to tap into the ingenuity that once set America apart anymore.

Suspend that cynicism: The boom towns we’re highlighting this week are not based overseas; they’re right here in the American heartland, where some innovative people have identified better ways to produce large amounts of energy and seized the opportunity to do so. Their efforts are already providing real tangible benefits to their surrounding communities and offer a glimpse of the better economic times we might all enjoy if we focused more on our country’s wealth of natural resources.

In a rural agricultural region in Oregon, wind farms have come to an area once known for wheat farms. Wind companies were drawn to the region not only because of its windy weather but because of its proximity to the power transmission lines feeding into California. And they have proven to be very good neighbors. The area’s farmers have not only found a way to peacefully coexist with the wind farms, The New York Times reports they are embracing them: Property taxes on the wind farms have generated millions of dollars in revenue that have gone to support once struggling local schools. And residents of Sherman County, where many of the wind turbines are located, even receive an annual dividend check for $590 under a system that provides compensation to the locals.

The town of Carrizo Springs, Texas, meanwhile, has become the site of a modern day oil boom, where companies are preparing to drill some 3,000 fields over the next 12 months. By some accounts, production from this region alone could increase U.S. oil output by 25% in ten years.

Carrizo Springs is not a completely new discovery so much as a discovery about ways to produce onshore oil economically, using hydraulic fracturing, a process that has also enabled producers around the country to tap vast reserves of natural gas long considered unreachable.

Wind in rural Oregon. Oil in South Texas. Two very different energy stories, except for the successes they both are seeing and the results they are reaping: Jobs, revenue, and revived communities that are making the most of their natural resources basking in the prosperity and the pride that results.

June 2011 Newsletter

June 2011 CEA Newsletter
Issue 51


 

In the summertime

We’d like to kick off this month’s newsletter with some light fare to match the season when school’s out and vacation is underway. But we’re noticing that as the summer season approaches this year, a lot of people aren’t feeling very … “summery.” Vacation? That takes a lot of money these days. And of course, vacation is impossible if you don’t have a job in the first place.

It’s not lost on us here at CEA that so much of the persistent economic gloom we’re seeing is in some way connected to the longstanding failings of our national energy policy, and the high gasoline prices that have resulted. As we hear so often from CEA members on Facebook and elsewhere, gasoline prices are at a level that makes it difficult for many people to afford short commutes, never mind longer road trips. These prices are also impacting the costs of doing business, manufacturing goods and the prices for all sorts of consumer goods, including food. That limits consumer spending, which in turn forces businesses to cut back on overhead at the very time that we need them to be creating jobs.

Perhaps you have read optimistic reports that, this summer, gasoline prices are headed lower. That’s a half truth at best, for while prices in some regions of the country have retreated modestly in recent weeks, they are still just barely shy of $4 a gallon. It’s a level that is well above historic norms, and which makes it difficult for our country’s oh-so-fragile economic recovery to pick up momentum.

You might be interested to know that, along with marking the start of summertime, the month of June this year also marks two years since the Great Recession officially ended. That’s right: The greatest economic downturn that most of us have experienced in our lives, has long been over. And yet, as I sit here recalling that recession and everything that has transpired since, I’m struck by how things don’t feel very different now than they did then. Indeed, we’re headed for a summer of extreme pain at the pump that recalls the conditions of 2009.

Memorial Day weekend also marks the one-year anniversary of the regulatory moratorium placed on offshore development by the Administration. Though intended to address an affront to our environmental safeguards, this drilling ban failed to take into account the impact it would have on thousands of Gulf workers and the millions of consumers nationwide that would suffer as a result.

What’s a consumer to do? Two things. First, get involved educating yourself and others how all the pieces of our complex economy fit together, particularly how national energy policies affect us all in our wallets. It’s not always easy to pay attention to the big picture when you’re trying to balance the family budget, but your voice is critical in shaping the national debate.

And finally, try to kick back and enjoy, whether you do so on your front stoop, your backyard, a campsite or elsewhere. Remember that the little things you can do to stretch a dollar — like driving at moderate speeds and keeping your tires properly inflated – really do add up to savings at the pump. For more information about conserving energy at home, or getting more actively involved by telling officials in Washington “it’s past time to have a sensible energy policy”, visit us at www.consumerenergyalliance.org.

David Holt
President

Urge the development of Alaska’s abundant offshore oil and natural gas resources

Tell the federal government that our nation’s economic and energy security depends on producing these vital supplies.

Developing oil and natural gas resources off Alaska will:

  • Supply Americans with abundant domestic energy and help lower overseas imports;
  • Create tens of thousands of American jobs in Alaska and throughout the United States;
  • Add billions in revenue to the federal government at a time of ballooning federal deficits; and
  • Provide necessary supplies to keep the Trans-Alaska Pipeline – one of the most critical infrastructures in our country – from shutting down permanently.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Enforcement, and Regulation (the federal agency that regulates offshore energy development) is currently accepting comments on the development of offshore oil and natural gas in the Chukchi Sea, north of Alaska. After years and years of studying the potential impacts of production and ensuring all safety precautions have exceeded standards, it’s time to move forward with development.

By sending a letter in today, you will send a strong message to our government that American energy security and American jobs are at stake. Consumers cannot avoid any delays!

 

Energy Day 2011 Updates

As Energy Day 2011 approaches, momentum is really picking up. In June the third Energy Day Steering Committee meeting will take place at City Hall in downtown Houston. CEA has four ECAP events under its belt after the Houston Energy City of the Future competition that took place on May 13, 2011. Each of the events has been a huge success and we look forward to the upcoming Summer ECAP events. 

Here is the list of confirmed Energy Day sponsors:

ABC-13, Air Transport Association, American Public Power Association, Apache, Bug Ware, Inc., Caterpillar, City of Houston, ConocoPhillips, Consumer Energy Alliance, Consumer Energy Education Foundation, Cooperative for After-School Enrichment (CASE), CSTEM Teacher & Student Support Services, Earth Quest Institute, Eco-Holdings Engineering, El Paso Corporation, Energy People Connect, Environmentally Friendly Drilling Program, Foundation for Energy Education, Greater Houston Partnership, Green Mountain Energy. Halliburton, Harris County Department of Education, Houston Advanced Research Center, Houston Area Land Rover Centers, Houston Independent School District, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Wiess Energy Hall, Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce – Energize! Houston, Houston Renewable Energy Group, Houston Renewable Energy Network, Houston Technology Center, HoustonWorks USA, Ignite Solar, Independent Natural Resources, KBR, Inc., Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), Lone Star College, Momentum Luxury Group, NASA-Johnson Space Center, National Algae Association , NRG Energy | Reliant Energy, Offshore Energy Center, San Jacinto College – Energy Venture Camp, Science & Engineering Fair of Houston, Shell, 60 Plus Association, Solar Tour Houston, Statoil, Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering, Texas Southern University, Jesse H. Jones School of Business, Texas TicKids, The Wind Alliance, TransCanada, TXU, Western Energy Alliance, University of Houston , University of Texas, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy, YES Prep Public Schools 

We need your participation and involvement to make this an outstanding event! Please email Kathleen at KKoehler@consumerenergyalliance.org for details.

Energy Day Academic Awards Program – Upcoming Events

While Energy Day is still a little over six months away, the Energy Day Academic Awards Program got started in April with 3 events and will continue with one event in the month of May. Each event will count towards the Energy Capital Academic Program (ECAP) for all of those who attend. For more details on the Energy Day Academic Awards Program or the Energy Capital Academic Program please email Craig at CKoshkin@consumerenergyalliance.org. 

CEA & HMNS Art Competition

June 1-30, 2011

Consumer Energy Alliance is partnering with HMNS Wiess Energy Hall’s Energy Conservation Club to host three of their monthly energy and conservation challenges. These energy-based challenges encourage children to realize their potential in creating a world that meets the needs of everyone. Students are encouraged to illustrate energy and conservation solutions that they have not seen before. 

Three judges from CEA’s Energy Day Steering Committee will choose the winning projects based on creativity, originality, knowledge of student, effort, conclusions and quality of display. The top three winning projects from each month will be recognized and displayed at the Energy Day festival. The first competition is the Art completion and will take place over the course of June. The guidelines are below:

You have a vision of yourself in a career in the energy field. It may be in the oil and gas industry, or in alternatives, or sustainability – anything to do with energy or energy conservation. Create a work of visual art which illustrates your field and how you got there – from today to your vision. Your artwork must be original. It may be presented in the form of a drawing, painting, sculpture, model, or original photography. 

Please go to the Energy Day website for a complete list of rules and requirements for this competition.

Take This Bill…and Measure It

Finding a starting point from which to measure is often the hardest first step to evaluating the efficiency of your home’s energy usage. The U.S. Department of Energy is helping us evaluate our households and compare them to others across the country so that we may better understand how to begin to prioritize and conserve. You will need the following information to calculate your “score”:
  1. Your last 12 months of utility bills
  2. Energy sources from your home (i.e. natural gas, electricity, fuel oil, propane, kerosene, etc.)
  3. The square footage of your home
  4. 5 minutes to plug in the information and get your results!
Visit the website today to receive your totals, compare to others across the country, and get recommendations for improvement!

Illinois Chamber of Commerce 

The energy industry is one of the most intriguing, critical and maddening sectors of our global economy. It’s no secret that our quality of life depends on access to competitively priced, reliable energy that does as little damage as possible to the environment in which we all live.

With this difficult challenge in mind, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce created the Energy Council in 2008. The Energy Council is comprised of companies that generate, transmit and transport energies of all kinds, and the companies that support them. Members of the Energy Council are involved in everything from coal to solar energy, from natural gas and crude oil to wind energy, and from nuclear energy to biofuels and waste-to-energy programs. 

To achieve their mission they advocate in the state legislature for policies that will open the door to energy jobs of all kinds and fight laws that will put them at an energy disadvantage. They also educate media, business and government leaders through outreach, tours, op-eds, letters and other tactics so policy makers can make the tough energy decisions based on facts instead of hopes, misinformation and hyperbole.

They believe their business-advocacy voice — educated by a wide variety of energy interests — is persuasive and helpful as they debate energy policy in Illinois.

The energy industry is one of the cornerstones of Illinois’ economy — 50,000 direct energy jobs in Illinois and an additional 100,000 indirect jobs are tied to the industry. Illinois needs policies that promote the continued expansion of energy production in the state and allows for development of energy resources and infrastructure to meet the state’s and nation’s increasing energy needs. These policies will also help keep energy costs competitive, attract business investment and bring employment growth to Illinois. 

They haven’t solved the state’s energy issues in three years. However, they have an educated, respected and louder voice that is heard by the state’s leaders when energy debates arise. And no, they don’t have the crystal ball that reveals how energy issues will be solved. But we are working hard to create an environment in Illinois that is ready to benefit from whatever the future brings. 

For more information on the Illinois Chamber’s Energy Council, please go to their website or blog. And remember, it’s always a good time to talk about energy.

CEA Praises Regulatory Reform Decision by White House

CEA Praises Regulatory Reform Decision by White House
Streamlining Regulations from EPA, Interior Will Help Consumers

HOUSTON – With energy prices rising and consumers suffering the worst impacts, the White House announced today that it would begin reviewing several key regulations that are needlessly raising costs for consumers and businesses alike, including outdated and redundant requirements by the Environmental Protection Agency and in the Endangered Species Act.

David Holt, President of the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), praised the announcement and released the following statement:

“Unnecessary regulations that prevent the responsible development of American energy negatively impact the entire economy, especially the consumers. For that reason, today’s announcement by the White House about easing this regulatory burden is welcome news. The plan to eliminate EPA’s costly and unnecessary requirements for local gas stations will help motorists who are already experiencing pain at the pump with near $4 per gallon gasoline. Additionally, streamlining outdated reporting requirements under the Endangered Species Act will help expedite responsible energy development, especially offshore where the work slow-down in the Gulf and regulatory uncertainty in Alaska has impacted the economy of the entire nation.

“This is a positive first step toward the creation of a balanced American energy policy that increases domestic supplies in order to promote greater energy security and lower prices for consumers. We hope today’s decision on reducing costly regulation is only the beginning of a series of actions designed to turn back on the American energy industry and get the country back to work.”

Here we go

It won’t officially begin until next month, but for all practical purposes, summer gets underway this weekend, as many Americans enjoy an extra day off, turn up the a.c. and start making summer vacation plans.

Traditionally Memorial Day is also a time to take stock of domestic gasoline prices as a way to assess the economic health of both the country at large, and all those individual households looking forward to a family road trip. This year, it doesn’t look so good. Although prices have started to decline from a peak reached in April, they’re still way up there.

At the same time that we ought to cheer the modest price decline seen in recent weeks, we also must  stay mindful of the bigger picture: Prices have been well above historic norms for most of this year and as we approach the halfway mark on the year 2011, that is starting to have a cumulative effect. Wal-Mart Stores, the nation’s largest retailer, recently disclosed that these higher gas prices are affecting its business in multiple ways. First, consumers are forgoing shopping trips because they can’t afford the gas, but also, prices for all sorts of consumer goods, including food, have been pushed higher as a result of soaring fuel costs.  Check out CEA’s Facebook page for good testimonials from Americans struggling with high gasoline prices.

This summer, some very fortunate Americans will plan elaborate trips cross country or abroad, with nary a thought to the cost of jet fuel. Those are the same people – many of them Washington policymakers – who may be hard pressed to understand the significance of $3.80, or $4-a-gallon gasoline. That’s because the issue of gasoline prices is a highly populist issue, one which has a disproportionate impact on middle and low-income groups. This report on Wal-Mart Stores, which serves so many low and middle-income consumers, offers some good data: America’s poorest families spend almost 10% of their incomes on gasoline; the richest families spend less than 2%. Gasoline prices impact all of us, but for many people, they are crushing. Our national energy policies ought to be designed to serve all Americans.

 

Consumer Energy Alliance Welcomes New Member Iowa Association of Business and Industry

Consumer Energy Alliance Welcomes New Member Iowa Association of Business and Industry

HOUSTON – April 20, 2011 Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is pleased to welcome the Iowa Association of Business and Industry as its newest affiliate member.

The Voice of Iowa Business since 1903, ABI is the state’s oldest and largest business organization.  ABI represents approximately 1,400 member companies that employ over 300,000 Iowans in all sectors of Iowa’s economy.

“Consumer Energy Alliance is pleased to work closely with the Iowa Association of Business and Industry on energy issues at a regional and national level,” said CEA president David Holt.  “Fostering healthy dialogue on energy policy is an essential function of CEA and ABI accomplishes this by being a voice for Iowa businesses on legislative and regulatory issues such as energy policy.  CEA looks forward to working closely with the Iowa Association of Business and Industry to provide consumers with credible energy information and learning first-hand some of the concerns consumers have about federal and state energy policies. “

”Just like CEA, Iowa ABI is committed to fostering a climate for citizens to have the opportunity to enjoy the highest possible quality of life.  Together with ABI, CEA will continue to work toward this goal by advocating for a balanced energy policy in the Midwest and the rest of the country,” added CEA Midwest Director Ryan Scott

“ABI is pleased to join the efforts of CEA to help develop energy policies that will bring long-term benefits to all Iowans.  Our state’s economic development future is dependent upon the availability, reliability and affordability of energy.  The efforts of CEA and its members will enable Iowa businesses to be part of the energy policy discussion at the national level,” said Mike Ralston, President of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.

The unusual problem of “overgeneration”

There’s a strange debate over energy policy that is playing out right now in the Pacific Northwest. It has nothing to do with offshore drilling or natural gas production, and while it does concern renewable energy, it’s not the sort of dispute you might expect: Rather, renewable plants serving parts of Washington and Oregon are suddenly producing more power than the grid can absorb.

The region, which is generously served by both wind power and hydropower plants, finds itself in this unusual situation as a result of heavy snowfall this past winter, which is now starting to melt, creating a surplus of hydropower. In an attempt to manage this oversupply, the local utility, the Bonneville Power Administration, is contemplating shutting down some of the wind turbines in the region. Bonneville maintains that it must take steps to slow energy production, and that the only alternative to shutting wind turbines is a process called “spilling water,” which can harm fish and may violate the Clean Water Act.

Needless to say, the prospect of shutting down wind turbines has sparked outrage, both among the general public and parties with a more vested interest in wind. The American Wind Power Association has been one of the most vocal critics, noting that scaling back wind power production would undermine efforts to promote renewable energy and could impose a financial burden on the wind power providers since the tax credits they earn are linked to the amount of power they generate.

Aside from being a curious story, this dilemma facing power providers in the Pacific Northwest should remind all of us about some of the underlying energy challenges that are often overlooked. The problem of overgeneration is really not a problem of too much power, so much as a problem of too little infrastructure to store and transport that power. We talk often about how the great strength of renewable power is its infinite supply, and yet we have not adequately invested in the infrastructure to make the most of that supply. Further, we do not yet have the technology to allow us to “store” any excess power that is generated by wind, solar or natural gas.

And, regardless of what side people take, many cannot argue that the fact we are having this debate at all shows a failure of our national energy policy to adequately look to the future. It’s great to see renewable energy projects appearing all around the country, contributing to communities’ overall power needs. But achieving and sustaining real scale in renewables will require more of a big picture approach so that two different power sources are not left competing against one another.

 

CEA Applauds BOEMRE Efforts to Streamline Offshore Wind Leasing

CEA Applauds BOEMRE Efforts to Streamline Offshore Wind Leasing
Decision Closes Week of Debate, Support for Domestic Energy Production

WASHINGTON — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Enforcement and Regulation (BOEMRE) announced today its decision to finalize a rule that would eliminate a duplicate step in the noncompetitive leasing process for commercial renewable energy – allowing for accelerated development of offshore wind resources on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. According to a statement from BOEMRE Director Michael Bromwich, the approach could cut up to a year off the leasing process for wind energy projects in the Atlantic. The final rule will be effective June 15, 2011.

In response to the Administration’s decision, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) president David Holt released this statement:

“After an eventful week in Washington for producers and consumers of energy, CEA is encouraged to hear that the Obama Administration is mindful of how important a well-rounded, ‘all of the above’ approach to energy production is to Americans struggling to keep up with high gas prices and more expensive products. Wind power serves as an energy source ready to be produced here at home and can significantly contribute to a base of safe, secure and clean energy to keep up with ever-increasing demand.

“Partnered with the successful passage of the OCS bills yesterday on Capitol Hill — which will also play an important role in helping us reach a more efficient approach to offshore energy development — BOEMRE’s recognition of the vast resources that are waiting just beyond our shores is a step in the right direction.”

Speaking as a member of CEA, Michael Kearns, external affairs director at the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), released this statement:

“As a member of CEA and a representative body of companies committed to the expansion of all forms of offshore energy, the National Ocean Industries Association is very encouraged to see BOEMRE take the important step of committing to a more streamlined regulatory process for offshore renewables. We believe that the industry, the government, the economy and the American people all win when processes are as timely and efficient as possible and companies have the opportunity to expand into new areas.”

 

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