On January 1, 1970, Richard Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act into law. Familiarly known as “NEPA.” This Act became the foundation of all US environmental laws.
Evolution of the Environmental Impact Statement
A bit on sharks – from Shark Week 2021
While their sense of smell may reach 100m, they can hear sounds of interest over several kilometers. Something to remember when you are thrashing around in the ocean…
Shark Week
Sharks of some sort or other have been swimming around in the ocean for 420 million years. This tells us a few things – that sharks have successfully adapted to their marine habitat, and this includes their sensory systems. It…
Marshalling Comments for Offshore Wind
We just submitted our comments and recommendations to the California Energy Commission for the proposed development of offshore wind off our coast. This is our first of what looks like a volley of comments coming up in the next two months.…
Offshore windfarm siting – lots of moving parts
While all of us support offshore wind development, we also all want to make sure it is handled correctly, because huge swaths of the Outer Continental Shelf will be transformed by this pivot away from fossil fuels.
How big is the Ocean?
Working up to this World Ocean Day I have been pondering the size of the ocean. We can only imagine how our early forebears beheld it from the shores – peering into a vast, seemingly endless horizon. If you’ve ever…
Off and running – after a halcyon week
Watching the current Administration’s strategy of looking straight ahead and not spitting out the windows, I found myself worried about sinking into the doldrums. When the folks handling the tiller of the Ship of State are headed in an approvable…
Systems thinking and the evolution of an idea
In the early 1990’s Physical Oceanographer Walter Munk was proposing the deployment of a technology called “Acoustic Tomography of Ocean Climate” (ATOC), whereby loud, low frequency sounds would be projected from the Pioneer Seamount across the Pacific Ocean, to Kauai, with the understanding…
My, how things change – mostly
Fortunately it seems like the folks in the current Administration have the interests of saving the planet in mind, not the interests of the oil industry.