Wind farms could join oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Part of the Gulf of Mexico is being eyed by the Biden administration as a new area to expand its offshore wind ambitions. President Joe Biden wants to open up hundreds of thousands of acres off the coast of Texas and Louisiana for wind development. The administration wants to hear from the public on the development of those locations, after it proposed to make them official wind energy areas.

Building up an offshore wind energy industry in the US is one of the goals of the Biden administration. Two small wind farms are operating off the coast of Rhode Island and Virginia. The first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, being built off the coast of Massachusetts, just received federal approval.

Biden has tried to encourage offshore wind development along other shorelines. Two new wind energy areas were created off of California, and the administration is looking into locations off the coast of Oregon.

The Gulf of Mexico is appealing for offshore wind due to it's smaller waves and shallow waters. There are some unique challenges in the gulf. Tropical storms and hurricanes will be a challenge for future wind farms. There were five named storms that struck Louisiana. Hurricane Laura and Delta caused a lot of damage to Lake Charles.

The history of oil and gas drilling here could support a clean energy industry when it comes to the construction of offshore infrastructure. The US is home to the first private testing facility for new offshore wind turbine blade technology.

According to a 2020 study by the National Renewable Energy Lab, gulf states cumulatively consume twice the amount of energy as wind turbine generated electricity. According to a White House fact sheet, the area the Biden administration wants to open up for wind farm development could provide enough electricity for three million homes.

Biden directed the Department of Interior to develop clean energy in federal waters off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. There aren't a lot of details out yet, but this move counters a Trump-era moratorium on offshore wind development.

The White House says Biden's goal could power 10 million homes. Last month, Biden announced a new partnership with states to build up the domestic supply chain for offshore wind technologies.

Scientists have found that hitting a global target is necessary to keep the risks posed by climate change from growing significantly worse. The US, the world's second biggest climate polluter, has committed to halving its emissions over the next decade.

The power sector needs to be cleaned up in order to succeed. Democrats have been unsuccessful in wiping out emissions from the nation's electricity use. The court ruled that the EPA can't regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

The climate plan was killed last week by Senator Joe Manchin. The climate package that would promote clean energy through $300 billion in tax credits was not supported by Manchin. Democrats have taken a number of measures to slash greenhouse gas emissions. The US is not on track to meet its pledge under the Paris climate agreement without it.

To keep climate change from getting much worse, the US will have to cobble together many small actions. The White House fact sheet states that President Biden will act on the emergency.

The closed coal-fired power plant will now be used to make cables for offshore wind installations. Along with the Gulf of Mexico news, the Biden administration announced new funding to help communities build up infrastructure that is more resistant to climate change-driven disasters.

The advocates want Biden to declare a national emergency on climate. It would allow the president to stop offshore oil and gas drilling, ban crude oil exports, and restrict international trade and investment in fossil fuels. Biden could direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build out renewable energy generation and funnel more money into the domestic manufacturing of clean energy technologies.