Offshore Wind Power: Can New Jersey find a place at the table?

NJ enacted an offshore renewable energy certificate (OREC) law in 2010. It was thought that the OREC law would usher in a new era for New Jersey, with it enjoying clean, carbon-free renewable offshore wind energy. Offshore wind development, however, has so far been stalled in New Jersey. This presentation looks beyond past and existing conflicts with elected officials and regulators that has resulted in the OREC law effectively being sidelined to consider research that sheds light on public perceptions and de-conflicting uses with an emphasis on New Jersey, but as enlightened by broader research findings and trends

Public Trust Doctrine Implications of Electricity Production

The public trust doctrine is a powerful legal tool in property law that requires the sovereign, as a trustee, to protect and manage natural resources. Historically, the public trust doctrine has been used in relationship to navigable waterways and wildlife management. Despite electricity production’s impact on those two areas and the comparatively smaller impacts of renewable energy, electricity production has garnered very little public trust doctrine attention. This Article examines how electricity production implicates the public trust doctrine, primarily through the lens of four states—California, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and New Jersey—and how it would potentially apply to each state’s electricity planning and policies. As illustrated in the four case studies, the public trust doctrine can serve the following four purposes: (1) as a tool for citizens to force states to act on renewable electricity development; (2) as a legal defense for states to validate actions encouraging renewable electricity development; (3) as a means for courts to more closely scrutinize electricity decisions made by the state; and (4) as an opportunity for state agencies to supplement and guide imperfect statutes. Together, these four purposes of the public trust can ensure reasonable and timely development of renewable electricity as well as sufficient protection of trust resources

Fish as Pollutants: Limitations of and Crosscurrents in Law, Science, Management, and Policy

When we think of pollutants, we either consciously or unconsciously draw a bright line between pollutants and what might be called natural. That which is natural cannot be a pollutant; that which is a pollutant cannot be natural. It seems odd to speak of live fish as pollutants, as odd as it would be to speak of dioxins as natural. Nevertheless, the traditional definition of fish as natural may be fading as our awareness of the adverse environmental effects of accidental or poorly planned fish introductions increases. Along these lines, a federal court recently found that non-native Atlantic salmon that escape from their pens are pollutants within the meaning of the Clean Water Act. Because wild Atlantic salmon is listed as an Endangered Species, Salmon mariculture provides a particularly stark example of when society might aptly consider fish to be pollutants. The biological, philosophical, and legal underpinning of our argument, however, transcends aquaculture into the realm of fisheries management, where we advocate that managers focus on improving water quality to the point where the native fish that historically were dominant in the habitat are once again abundant, rather than on managing aquatic ecosystems for stocked species of fish that are relatively unaffected by degraded water quality

"Valuing the Visual Disamenity of Offshore Wind Projects at Varying Distances from the Shore: An Application on the Delaware Shoreline"

Several offshore wind power projects are under consideration in the United States. A concern with any wind power project is the visual disamenity it may create. Using a stated preference choice model, we estimated the external costs to residents of the State of Delaware for offshore wind turbines located at different distances from the coast. The annual costs to inland residents was $19,$9, $1, and$0 (2006$) for turbines located at 1, 3.6, 6, and 9 miles offshore. The cost to residents living on the ocean was$80, $69,$35, and $27 for the same increments.Windfarms, View Disamenity, Valuation

Public Trust Doctrine Implications of Electricity Production

The public trust doctrine is a powerful legal tool in property law that requires the sovereign, as a trustee, to protect and manage natural resources. Historically, the public trust doctrine has been used in relationship to navigable waterways and wildlife management. Despite electricity production’s impact on those two areas and the comparatively smaller impacts of renewable energy, electricity production has garnered very little public trust doctrine attention. This Article examines how electricity production implicates the public trust doctrine, primarily through the lens of four states—California, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and New Jersey—and how it would potentially apply to each state’s electricity planning and policies. As illustrated in the four case studies, the public trust doctrine can serve the following four purposes: (1) as a tool for citizens to force states to act on renewable electricity development; (2) as a legal defense for states to validate actions encouraging renewable electricity development; (3) as a means for courts to more closely scrutinize electricity decisions made by the state; and (4) as an opportunity for state agencies to supplement and guide imperfect statutes. Together, these four purposes of the public trust can ensure reasonable and timely development of renewable electricity as well as sufficient protection of trust resources

Place Meaning and Consistency with Offshore Wind: An Island and Coastal Tale

This work continues a series of analyses using surveys of local communities regarding the Block Island Offshore Wind Project. Data collection focused on island and coastal resident attitudes toward the project and cognitions of the coastal setting. We report results from the first and final surveys. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to evaluate relationships among variables. Results indicate that attitudes about the project have solidified as more people have seen it. A majority support the project, and a small percent consider the project inconsistent with specific meanings associated with the ocean environment. These meanings stand out amongst other place constructs. Furthermore, the relationship among turbine descriptions and place meanings and their consistency with the project as a use of the ocean, along with general support for the project is explored. The results continue to validate a place-based understanding of the responses of people to a changing energy landscape

Faring Well in Offshore Wind Power Siting? Trust, Engagement and Process Fairness in the United States

Although visual effects may be the most defining characteristic of a wind project, implementing fair, transparent and just decision-making processes may be a significant determining factor in success. To shed light on this question, we undertook a study of perceptions of mainland coastal and island residents proximate to the Block Island project—the first offshore wind project in the United States. The study included a longitudinal survey of residents prior to and after turbine installation, and semi-structured interviews with residents and key stakeholders. We assessed the extent to which respondents were engaged in the planning process, opinions of transparency and fairness, and degree to which the planning process affected their opinion. Although interviewees who held a negative view of state government indicated that it did not cause them to oppose the project, trust in state government was the primary driver of perceptions of process fairness, which in turn was the primary driver of project support. We also found individuals to withhold final judgment of the process until the final outcome—project operation. Finally, fair process was seen as having benefits distinct from its effect on the outcome—that is, local residents valued the process itself