Wind farms are looking to put down stakes offshore just like oil drillers are`

(Photo of offshore wind farm in Britain from Flickr and photographer phault/Phil Hollman)

News Update: Oil companies may have competition for the offshore continental shelf as a source of energy. Wind companies are looking offshore as well. The Interior Department is just now ending a comment period on a plan to lease large areas of offshore property to harvest wind, which is stronger in the ocean than it is on land. So far, the states have been leading the way and they met in Delaware this week to discuss their prospects and problems. The biggest threat right now is the failure of Congress to agree on extending the production tax credit wind companies depend on to keep their businesses competitive. Other obstacles are government red tape, an inadequate grid and citizen objections. The Catch-22 is if they build close to shore, in state water, people living along the shore object. If they go far out into federal water, they have to wend their way through a series of regulations that can take years. Delaware, seen as a leader in offshore wind here, has signed an agreement with Bluewater Wind to buy power from a farm to be placed 11 miles off its coast. But they are still awaiting federal approval. The most interest in offshore wind is in the Northeast, where there are large population centers near the coast. Rhode Island and New Jersey are among the states taking a serious look. And Massachusetts is still waiting to resolve the controversy over Cape Wind off Nantucket. (Sources: ClimateWire, Greenwire)

Pacific islands could be engulfed by global warming

(Photo of Tuvalu from Flickr and photographer Jay)

News Update 2: Pacific island states, meeting at a forum, said the region should negotiate for international assistance for damage already done by climate change. Rising seas levels and severe cyclones already are causing people along the coast to relocate in 4 of the states – Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Cantaret Islands in Papua New Guinea. In Kiribati, two uninhabited islands disappeared under the sea in 1999. “The evidence is quite clear that climate change is already wreaking havoc here,” said Pacific Island Forum Chair Toke Talagi, who is also premier of Niue, where the forum was held. The islands will ask the UN Security Council next week to address climate change as a threat to international peace and security. The international organization Avaaz is collecting signatures on a petition to support their request. (Sources: ClimateWire, Independent Online), Aavaz)