According to a recent report, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has authorized 206 wind projects, 28 of them to generate power, the rest primarily to test a region's wind-generation capacity, and at least 200 more are awaiting approval.[1]
One high profile wind project is a proposal by Cape Wind Associates to develop a 420-MW offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound, south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Proponents claim the project is a safe, clean way to develop renewable energy and create jobs, while opponents say it threatens the area’s ecosystem, maritime navigation, and tourism.[2] Other proposed off-shore projects include Winergy’s proposals off the coasts of Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia; and a Galveston-Offshore Wind, LLC project in a portion of the Gulf of Mexico under the jurisdiction of Texas.[3]
