Abstract
Oregon Sea Grant (OSG) and Oregon State University (OSU) have been investigating and supporting the development of ocean-based renewable energy for several years. By 2004, there was motivation from the State to get things moving quickly. The POWER group was meeting regularly. Several developers were eyeing Oregon as a “sweet spot” to test and launch their technology. Terms like “the gold rush” were being used on a regular basis to describe the situation.
OSG’s role was to support research and connect scientists, engineers and developers to ocean users – specifically, the commercial fishing industry – to talk, listen and share perspectives and experience about this new technology and the ocean’s place and space. During this time, at the peak, seven or more preliminary permits had been applied for. Yet, there were so many questions unanswered and issues that needed to be addressed. A series of environmental issues and questions led to an “environmental impacts” conference in Newport. A report of this conference is available.
Equally important, yet left unaddressed, were a series of human dimension issues and questions. How is wave energy generation off of the Oregon coast generally perceived? Who are the stakeholders and how are they engaged? Is this activity further defining differences in rural and urban perceptions of the coast and the direction of its economic and social development? Cumulatively, how does the human dimension of the wave energy equation affect public perceptions, public policy and the successful adoption of wave energy technology along Oregon’s coast?
At the same time, policy makers and government officials were struggling to keep up in many ways. Who’s responsible for planning and regulating this new use of the ocean? FERC? MMS? State or local government? What should the permitting process be? What are the correct steps that should be followed?
In 2007, the Oregon Wave Energy Trust (OWET) put out a request for proposals to begin to discover answers to many of the environmental and human dimensions questions. A multidisciplinary group of social scientists – Flaxen Conway, Brent Steel, Michael Harte and Bryan Tilt from Oregon State University – responded to this call. There were six graduate students – five masters candidates (Holly Campbell, John Stevenson, Zack Covell, Daniel Hunter, and Yao Yin) and one PhD candidate (Maria Stefanovich) – who were here, ready, and interested. Working together, they created a new research program at OSU, the Human Dimension of Wave Energy (HDWE), to provide the opportunity for a cadre of social scientists – professors and graduate students – to study this new use of the ocean space and place.