Who Owns the Tides?

摘要

Alaska's Fast-Tracked Wave Permits Just over a century ago, the arrival of gold miners bearing shovels and mining claims stunned peaceful native residents along the Yukon River near the Alaska-Canada border. Now, an alternative energy rush is quietly sweeping the nation's backwaters. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is handing out preliminary permits to pursue a hot new form of "hydrokinetic" energy. The permits are exclusive property-use rights, legally similar to gold mining claims. FERC defines hydrokinetic energy as produced by ocean waves, tides, ocean currents and river flows not involving a dam. Since last February, FERC has granted 47 permits to study hydrokinetic technologies for ocean, wave and tidal projects with 41 pending, as well as 40 in-river permits (55 more are pending).