After 10 years of battling fierce opposition, all 800 pages of The Cape Wind turbine farm proposal garnered complete approval on Monday, receiving every federal grant needed to start construction on the project by the fall.
Cape Wind, which will include 130 turbines off the coast of Nantucket Sound, would be America’s first offshore wind farm, and would fulfill promises President Barack Obama made during his 2008 election campaign to expand the United States’ use of wind power.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said construction of Cape Wind is not only crucial in reducing environmental impacts but will also produce jobs for many Massachusetts residents.
“This is an important final step,” Salazar said in an announcement at the Charlestown Navy Yard. “We are even closer toward ushering in our nation’s first offshore wind energy facility while creating jobs.”
State Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard Sullivan said in the news conference that while Cape Wind has faced much opposition due to the impact it could have on Nantucket residents, the project would reduce the state’s impact on the environment while protecting local businessmen.
“We submitted a proposal that would move the Commonwealth toward making Massachusetts the nation’s offshore wind energy leader while safeguarding waters important to our commercial fishing industry,” Sullivan said at the news conference.
While the project received the go ahead from the federal government, it still faces fierce opposition from groups like the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a nonprofit organization devoted “to the long-term preservation of Nantucket Sound,” according to the group’s website.
Cape Wind may face difficulties extraneous to groups like the APNS, as the project has only found a buyer for half of the proposed plans.
In a separate announcement on Monday, the state proposed to redefine another area currently being considered for offshore wind development.
The proposal would have the federal government reconsider a 3,000 square mile area of ocean for development of wind turbines in order to protect the business interests of local fisherman.
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