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www.sea-technology.com September 2015 / st 45 EPA Finalizes Clean Power Plan, Gives States Until 2022 to Comply The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fnalized the Clean Power Plan, a rule that will reduce carbon emissions in the U.S. 32 percent by 2030. Among the critics of the new plan is the Industrial En- ergy Consumers of America (IECA), which says the new regulations on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions restrict consumer use of the lowest-cost energy sources while rais- ing the cost of renewable energy. IECA member companies are energy-intensive, trade-ex- posed (EITE) companies, which means that relatively small changes to the price of energy can have signifcant negative impacts to competitiveness. Among the supporters of the Clean Power Plan is the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI): "This is the frst time the government has regulated carbon emissions from the power sector, the nation's largest source of carbon pollution at 31 percent of the total," said EESI Executive Director Carol Werner. "If we are to have any chance of keeping global warming below 3.6 Fahrenheit, we need to tackle power plants, particularly coal plants." The EPA has given states until 2022 for their interim deadline to reduce emissions from power plants. "By giv- ing states more time, EPA makes it easier for them to be ambitious and creative," said Werner. "They can plan for the long haul and invest more in renewable energy and energy effciency, rather than take the easy way out and put up natural gas plants. These are relatively cheap and fast to build, but do not do enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the long term." The Barack Obama Administration has seemingly recog- nized the risk of pushing states toward natural gas instead of renewables, and has accordingly increased its renewable energy targets under the EPA to 28 percent of a state's total generating capacity in its fnal rules (up from 22 percent). Conservation Act Amended To Protect Oculina Reefs NOAA announced the passage and publication of Amendment 8 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva- tion and Management Act, which came about partly be- cause of the work of FAU Harbor Branch scientists John Reed and Stephanie Farrington. This amendment protects the newly discovered Oculina coral reefs north of Cape Ca- naveral, Florida, from bottom trawling. In 2011, during a NOAA-funded research expedition, Reed and Farrington discovered that these deepwater coral reefs extended nearly up to St. Augustine, Florida. Prior to that it was thought that they ended at Cape Canaveral. A small portion (90 sq. mi.) of the Oculina reefs were made a marine protected area (Oculina Habitat Area of Particular Concern - OHAPC) in 1984 based on the research of scien- tists, including Reed, at Harbor Branch Oceanographic In- stitute. This was the frst marine protected area in the world to protect deepwater coral. The OHAPC was expanded to nearly 300 sq. mi. up to Canaveral in 2000, and now this new discovery nearly doubles the size. capital report