Markey, Mid-Atlantic Governors Support Offshore Wind
11/12/2009
SustainableBusiness.com News
With less than a month before pivotal international climate negotiations begin in Copenhagen, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said he has urged the Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to complete a decision on the Cape Wind offshore wind project before those negotiations occur, saying it would send a strong signal to the world that the United States is committed to advancing carbon-free clean energy.
“Approving the Cape Wind project as the nation’s first commercial offshore wind project before the start of the U.N. conference would send a strong message to international negotiators about the United States’ commitment to developing sources of clean energy and reducing global warming pollution,” said Markey, who chairs the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and co-authored the climate change bill passed by the House last summer.
The Interior Department has already completed the environmental review of the Cape Wind project, and state and local permitting was completed in May.
Many of Cape Cod's well-known and wealthy residents oppose development of the wind farm. However, two public opinion polls have found statewide support for the project to be 86%.
As planned the Cape Wind project would included 130 wind turbines, capable of providing power for 400,000 homes at a cost of roughly $1 billion.
“With the Obama administration's initiatives and the additional clean energy legislation currently pending before Congress, the tide has turned from the near total focus on fossil fuel extraction towards a comprehensive plan that includes the clean energy promise of the winds and the tides. Approving the Cape Wind project would be another important step towards a clean energy future,” Markey wrote in a letter to Salzar.
In Related News...
The governors of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware agreed Tuesday to a partnership to encourage the deployment of offshore wind energy in the region, hoping to capitalize on the Mid-Atlantic's enormous offshore wind resources.
Read the Capital News Service report at the link below.
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