Renewable Practitioners Grapple With Federal Species Protections

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has announced that offshore wind will play a "big role" in the "America- First Offshore Energy Strategy." With an estimated over 2,000 gigawatts of wind resource capacity in U.S. waters, offshore wind facilities could be critical in securing energy independence and reducing carbon emissions. As renew­able energy practitioners are keenly aware, however, the siting and permit­ting of wind facilities often must run a gauntlet of environmental reviews and species protections laws. While these laws serve extremely important func­tions in protecting biodiversity, they need to be reconciled with the new imperative to expand our renewable energy infrastructure.