November 24, 2010

Salazar promotes Wind Power

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a broad-based initiative aimed at accelerating the development of offshore wind power projects on the Outer Continental Shelf along the nation's Atlantic coast.
The initiative is intended to shave years off an uncertain permitting process that developers say can drag on for the better part of a decade, discouraging potential investors.
The announcement comes a day after state regulators in Massachusetts approved a plan by National Grid, a regional utility, to buy part of the power to be generated by the Cape Wind offshore wind farm planned for Nantucket Sound. That project has been hampered by legal wrangling, federal reviews and other roadblocks for nearly a decade.
The Interior Department finalized a lease with developers of Cape Wind last month.
"The Cape Wind lease is an historic milestone in America's renewable energy future," Mr. Salazar said in a statement. "But to fully harness the economic and energy benefits of our nation's vast Atlantic wind potential we need to implement a smart permitting process that is efficient, thorough and unburdened by needless red tape."
The new program, called the "Smart From the Start" wind energy initiative, is modeled after a similar scheme meant to accelerate the adoption of solar power in the West, Mr. Salazar said.


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