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Offshore wind farm farther away, closer to reality |
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Prospects for wind turbines churning out clean energy off the
mid-Atlantic coast got brighter Thursday when federal officials unveiled
safe areas where energy companies might build wind farms off Virginia,
Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.
The U.S. Department of the Interior said it has completed environmental studies in these zones in the Atlantic Ocean, finding them clear of significant conflicts with fishing interests, shipping traffic, military training and marine life, including whales, dolphins and migratory birds. Virginia's designated area encompasses 112,799 acres of open water, located due east of the Virginia Beach resort strip. Would-be wind developers now are free to inform federal officials of their interest in setting wind turbines on leasable space between 23.5 nautical miles and 36.5 miles from shore. Gov. Bob McDonnell and environmentalists applauded the announcement, made Thursday morning in Baltimore after some testy months of state officials and clean-energy advocates pushing federal regulators to move faster. Read the complete story from The Virginian-Pilot
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MELISSA WOOD, NATIONAL FISHERMEN: Meting out the meager
May 22, 2012 - Listening to the New England Council's Groundfish Advisory Panel talk about how that industry is going to pay for monitoring costs is kind of like trying to figure out how to pay your bills when you've just lost your job. Though monitoring is important keeping costs down is critical. As Panel Member Gary Libby pointed out, "If we had 100 percent monitoring we probably wouldn't have an industry."
