Saturday, June 20, 2009

Obama plan to zone oceans - Sean Corcoran's Cape Wind Blog

The Cape Cod Commission has submitted an appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, claiming the state Energy Facilities Siting Board overstepped its authority when it overruled the commission and gave Cape Wind all the local and regional permits it needs to move forward; Gov. Deval Patrick sent some folks to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy to hear people's thoughts on placing wind turbines on public lands; the first floating wind turbine has been installed; and a new survey finds that a goodly portion of Massachusetts residents are concerned that NIMBYism has impeded the Cape Wind project.

We'll get to all that. But first I want to mention a White House memorandum released last Friday to the heads of federal departments and agencies because it appears the Obama Administration wants to zone the oceans.

The memo indicates that Obama is creating a task force that within 180 days will recommend "a framework for effective coastal and marine spatial planning." What's called The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force will make recommendations to the president on protecting ocean and Great Lake resources as they experience "growing demands" from "renewable energy, shipping and aquaculture."

"This framework," the memo reads, "should be a comprehensive, integrated, ecosystem-based approach that addresses conservation, economic activity, user conflict, and sustainable use of ocean, coastal, and Great Lake resources consistent with international law..."

I've put out calls to the White House, the region's lawmakers and wind groups looking for some clarity, but it sounds like the federal government is looking to zone the oceans for activities and uses. Presumably, "marine spatial planning" would mean specific areas of water would be chosen for things like wind farms, just as towns go through a planning process to decide what types of developments are appropriate for what locations.

The Nature Conservancy seems to have the same interpretation of this memo as I do: It's a step toward creating designated spaces in the ocean for specific activities.

"This is a critical step," wrote Sally Yozell of the Nature Conservancy in a statement on Saturday, "in ensuring that as demands on our oceans continue to grow, all stake holders in the ocean -- from industry and energy to conservation and recreation -- have a seat at the table."

"We have figured out how to balance residential, industrial and recreational uses on land, but today's announcement supports a vision that we can figure out a way to accomplish this in the ocean as well," Yozell wrote.

When I hear back from the White House and other officials, I'll update this blog.

You can find the memo on the White House website here.

And you can find the Nature Conservancy's statement here.

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