Obama Administration Paves Way for Offshore Wind Power to Take Flight Off Atlantic Coast

[ProSense]

Obama Administration Paves Way for Offshore Wind Power to Take Flight Off Atlantic Coast

On the heels of yesterday’s good news about progress for offshore wind energy in Massachusetts, today the Obama Administration announced a major new initiative to accelerate the development of clean, offshore wind power along the Atlantic Coast.

The Interior Department, (DOI), Governor O’Malley of Maryland and the President of the Offshore Wind Development Coalition, Jim Lanard, made this encouraging announcement for renewable energy in America today.

The primary announcement - over the next 60 days the administration will identify wind energy areas, (WEA), that are most promising for potential offshore wind development. They have been working with many eastern states, state-based task forces and stakeholders to determine these areas and identify what they believe will be the best places for siting this renewable energy source. In the following six months, DOI will reach out to “sister agencies” with information about ocean based renewable energy development to gain additional information on specific areas to confirm the previously identified locations. They will work with NOAA, DOD, EPA, the Coastguard and other relevant agencies to move this process forward. As a result of this new initiative, when lease sales are reviewed, investors and others will have more solid information to proceed with a full environmental impact statement prior to approving any project. Additionally, more attention will be given to any transmission applications which may assist in making sound decisions from a business and permitting perspective on advancing offshore wind in America.

The second portion of the announcement included the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s current review of a final rule change designed to streamline a lack of competition provision, granting a green light to candidates and collapsing the current rule into a single opportunity to identify whether there is in fact competition for a proposed site. This rule is in final stages of review and the administration will provide additional details but hopes that this change will clarify the existing offshore wind permitting process.

The federal government’s announcement today is an acknowledgement and step forward for this promising source of clean, renewable energy to grow and compete with other sources of fuel. Furthermore, this initiative provides the United States with an opportunity to begin to compete with other nations that have eagerly pursued offshore wind. The first offshore wind farm was installed in 1991 in Denmark and, although small in scale, their current 2000 MW, and growing, of offshore wind confirms that this is a reliable source of renewable energy and the U.S. is getting closer to reaping those benefits firsthand.

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[JamesA1102]

1. That damn sellout Obama ;-)

[Axrendale]

2. Excellent news, and Kudos to the President.

I wonder how much coverage this will get? :(

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. At long last, well done Barack Obama!

when I was in Europe I saw windmills everywhere.

also good job Martin O'

[catgirl]

4. What change?

This may upset the outraged! :-)

[grumgrum]

5. Hey FINALLY something Progressive! And from Obama?!?!?

I wonder if the progressive anger is getting to him or something and so he had to do something like this.

Well then a surprising thank you to Obama...doesnt seem like his style to do something Progressive at all so i hope i am not thanking him too soon and find some underlying sellout to big business that ends up screwing us all down the road.

[ProSense]

6. Reaction

Via Grist:

<...>

Not surprisingly, the announcement was a big hit among enviros. Typical was this response from the Sierra Club’s Bruce Nilles:

It’s encouraging to see the Interior Department taking serious steps to further accelerate the rapid development of America’s abundant clean energy resources. The Atlantic Coast holds tremendous potential for the kind of large-scale clean energy projects that will create jobs, breathe new life into our economy, and help make us a leader in the global clean energy marketplace.

[bigwillq]

7. Cool.

:thumbsup:
K and R