Clean Energy And Conservation Clash in California Coastal Waters

By Nadia Lopez and Josh Saul Two of President Joe Biden’s biggest priorities — conservation and the transition to clean energy — are colliding in the ocean off California’s serene Central Coast. Located between San Francisco and Los Angeles, Morro Bay is home to a diverse ecosystem of fish, otters, and migrating whales that the Indigenous Chumash people seek to protect. They propose the establishment of a new marine sanctuary. However, 20 miles offshore, developers plan to build some of the first offshore wind farms on the West Coast. These turbines, reaching a height of 1,100 feet and anchored to the seabed, will help California reduce its carbon emissions. One US government agency appears ready to approve the sanctuary, while another has already leased 376 square miles of ocean for wind development just outside the sanctuary's boundaries. Now, a dispute is brewing over whether the picturesque Morro Bay should be excluded from the sanctuary to serve as a landing point for undersea power cables from the wind farms. Both sides see larger implications. California officials argue that offshore wind is necessary to achieve the state's goal of carbon neutrality by 2045. However, extensive stretches of the coast are already protected by a series of federal ocean sanctuaries. If Morro Bay is excluded, the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary would extend the protected zone by an additional 134 miles, blocking most wind development from Santa Barbara to north of San Francisco. This conflict in environmentally conscious California underscores the significant opposition that large renewable power projects often face, even in states committed to combating climate change. Moreover, the global offshore wind industry currently grapples with supply chain disruptions and inflation issues, which have resulted in failed projects and canceled contracts in the eastern US. According to BloombergNEF research firm, the estimated cost of electricity from a US offshore wind farm has surged by nearly 50% from 2021 to 2023, jeopardizing state and federal efforts to generate more clean power from the sea. President Biden's goal is to have 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity installed by 2030, which would be enough to power over 10 million homes. The proposed wind farms off California's coast would be unlike any in the US. Due to the steep drop-off of the seabed, the turbines would float on platforms tethered by cables rather than being bolted into the seafloor. In 2022, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management leased the area, including the Morro Bay site and another off Humboldt County, to developers such as Equinor ASA, Golden State Wind, Invenergy, RWE AG, and Vineyard Offshore. Together, these sites are projected to generate up to 4.5 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power 1.5 million homes. California's climate plans call for 25 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2045, a target that would require more sea space than has currently been leased. However, the string of sanctuaries along the coast will impede development in Central California, and wind speeds off the Southern California coast are considered too low for practical turbine use. As a result, the waters off sparsely populated Northern California, which lacks the necessary power transmission lines, remain the most viable option. Despite infrastructure limitations, David Hochschild, chair of the California Energy Commission, believes the area is nearly ideal due to its strong winds. The federal government has already allocated $427 million for the development of a marine terminal in Humboldt, which would support the construction of the region's first offshore turbines. Although some Chumash tribe members are willing to accept the exclusion of a transmission line corridor in exchange for the sanctuary's approval, others are concerned that this could leave room for future oil exploration or seafloor mining. They argue that allowing renewable energy developers to bypass regulations would undermine the purpose of the sanctuary. The outcome of this conflict will have profound implications for the balance between conservation and development in California's coastal waters.