Harnessing the Power of the Gulf of Mexico

A major hurricane releases energy at five to twenty times the rate that the entire human race consumes energy. A hurricane is, essentially, a giant heat engine driven by the temperature and humidity differential between the ocean's surface and the colder, drier air above.

When the top couple hundred feet of the Gulf of Mexico reach 90+ degrees (F), that represents an enormous storehouse of energy. Probably more energy than the oil pumped up from the seabed underneath. The Gulf is essentially a huge solar collector which stores the energy of the sun in the form of hot water.

Unfortunately, there is not any commercial exploitation of this resource.

If someone could figure out a way to harness the energy of the warm gulf waters (for example, generate electricity with it), it could have an enormous positive impact. It could provide a large amount of renewable energy with no greenhouse gasses, and as a bonus, extracting energy from the Gulf of Mexico would also cool the surface waters, potentially limiting the severity of future hurricanes.

Any geniuses have a brilliant solution to this problem?