A new bill calls for the study of wave energy off the coast, but the research needs funding.
House Bill 3633 calls for the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development to study the potential of wave energy off Oregon’s coast.
But the study needs $50,000 to $100,000, which the bill’s backers intend to raise on their own.
“We’re raising the money ourselves – not asking the state to pay for this because we told our leadership: no bills that would A) be controversial, or B) cost money to the state,” [said state Rep. Deborah Boone]. “So we said ‘Fine. We’ll raise whatever it takes to get this thing down off the starting blocks and going through.'”
Boone said the new study will fit with the seafloor mapping already under way and she envisions it plugging into an online Oregon marine map that could be used by fishery managers, scientists and other stakeholders to plan out how different parts of the ocean should be used.
Read the full story at The Daily Astorian.
{biztweet}Oregon bill wave energy{/biztweet}
