How do we provide incentives for offshore energy development? Can we afford it? John Kerry answers: if state govt. sets a framework and the guidance to demonstrate that renewables can be profitable, a good investment, we don't need incentives. The private market will do it on its own. Kerry is advising the Governor to create frameworks that allow private enterprises to thrive... renewable energy developers should be assured that the state's policies will support them in the long run.
Kerry also emphasizes the need to educate policymakers and entrepreneurs about the economic opportunities of energy development.
Elizabeth Butler is now standing up and expressing some frustration with the regulatory issues we've heard today. We have a "moral obligation" to develop renewables. Why, then, are we regulating these projects on an ad-hoc, project-by-project basis, just like any other project - the same way we'd regulate the construction of a Wal-Mart big-box store or a summer camp. What gives? Where's the action?
A fellow from Mass. Audubon responds: we need Legislative action, on state and federal levels. [Editor's note: is he saying that Legislators need to clear the bureaucratic logjam themselves? If so, maybe agencies like FERC, MMS, state planners, etc. should have a self-preservation interest in getting with the program and figure out their ideal, streamlined process before they're legislated out of the picture.]
The fellow from New Jersey is now talking about building the industrial base necessary to create offshore development: undersea engineering, exploration, etc. A new economic development opportunity.
Chris Sauer, Ocean Renewable Power Co.: People invest in startups when there's a clear path to commercialization. His company abandoned a project in Florida's Gulf Stream b/c of regulatory uncertainty with MMS. Also, Maine has a unique opportunity re: tidal power... no one has yet developed a commercial tidal turbine yet. It could happen here, [and Sauer's company is working on it] and Maine could potentially become an exporter of technology and equipment.
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