Wind Projects at a Standstill

Despite Washington’s Enthusiasm, Recession and New Regulations Slow Firms

The Obama administration has made offshore wind energy a priority and an important part of its plans to create jobs and combat climate change, but even such favorable political breezes have not been strong enough to propel the nation’s first projects.

The economy has intervened, and an unfamiliar federal approval process could hold up leading projects.

Just last month, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar distributed leases to explore five possible wind farm sites off Delaware and New Jersey on the outer continental shelf. The leases were the first ever, and Salazar proclaimed “a new day for energy production in the United States.”

But that day may be years in the dawning.

Washington Post