Obama Administration Approves Offshore Cape Cod Wind Farm

I ask myself if we had a republican president, or any other president for that matter, would we have anywhere near the drive for new energy? I think Obama stands alone in this regard.

The Obama administration has approved what would be the nation's first offshore wind farm, off Cape Cod, inching the U.S. closer to harvesting an untapped domestic energy source — the steady breezes blowing along its vast coasts.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced his decision Wednesday in Boston, clearing the way for a 130-turbine wind farm in Nantucket Sound. Cape Wind was in its ninth year of federal review, and Salazar stepped in early this year to bring what he called much-needed resolution to the bitterly contested proposal.

"We are beginning a new direction in our nation's energy future," Salazar said. AP

But you can never make everybody happy:

But members of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Martha's Vineyard have vowed to sue to stop Cape Wind from being built, saying it would interfere with sacred rituals and desecrate tribal burial sites. Others opposed to the project on environmental grounds also have said they'll sue.

Salazar said he understood those concerns but had to weigh them against the nation's need for new renewable sources of energy.

From the Department of Interior:

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today approved the Cape Wind renewable energy project on federal submerged lands in Nantucket Sound, but will require the developer of the $1 billion wind farm to agree to additional binding measures to minimize the potential adverse impacts of construction and operation of the facility.

“After careful consideration of all the concerns expressed during the lengthy review and consultation process and thorough analyses of the many factors involved, I find that the public benefits weigh in favor of approving the Cape Wind project at the Horseshoe Shoal location,” Salazar said in an announcement at the State House in Boston. “With this decision we are beginning a new direction in our Nation’s energy future, ushering in America’s first offshore wind energy facility and opening a new chapter in the history of this region.”

The Cape Wind project would be the first wind farm on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, generating enough power to meet 75 percent of the electricity demand for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island combined. The project would create several hundred construction jobs and be one of the largest greenhouse gas reduction initiatives in the nation, cutting carbon dioxide emissions from conventional power plants by 700,000 tons annually. That is equivalent to removing 175,000 cars from the road for a year.

A number of similar projects have been proposed for other northeast coastal states, positioning the region to tap 1 million megawatts of offshore Atlantic wind energy potential, which could create thousands of manufacturing, construction and operations jobs and displace older, inefficient fossil-fueled generating plants, helping significantly to combat climate change.

Salazar emphasized that the Department has taken extraordinary steps to fully evaluate Cape Wind’s potential impacts on traditional cultural resources and historic properties, including government-to-government consultations with the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and that he was “mindful of our unique relationship with the Tribes and carefully considered their views and concerns.”

Because of concerns expressed during the consultations, Interior has required the developer to change the design and configuration of the wind turbine farm to diminish the visual effects of the project and to conduct additional seabed surveys to ensure that any submerged archaeological resources are protected prior to bottom disturbing activities.

Under these revisions, the number of turbines has been reduced from 170 to 130, eliminating turbines to reduce the visual impacts from the Kennedy Compound National Historic Landmark; reconfiguring the array to move it farther away from Nantucket Island; and reducing its breadth to mitigate visibility from the Nantucket Historic District. Regarding possible seabed cultural and historic resources, a Chance Finds Clause in the lease requires the developer to halt operations and notify Interior of any unanticipated archaeological find.

Salazar said he understood and respected the views of the Tribes and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, but noted that as Secretary of the Interior, he must balance broad, national public interest priorities in his decisions. “The need to preserve the environmental resources and rich cultural heritage of Nantucket Sound must be weighed in the balance with the importance of developing new renewable energy sources and strengthening our Nation’s energy security while battling climate change and creating jobs,” Salazar said. Read the rest here

Obama Talks Jobs at Wind Energy Company in Ohio

Obama traveled to Bedford Heights, Ohio to visit Cardinal Fastener & Specialty Company, which manufactures parts used to construct wind turbines.
Here's is the full transcript. Here is video:

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The American Wind Energy Association's Denise Bode said:

"The U.S. wind energy industry alone has opened or expanded more than 50 wind turbine component manufacturing facilities in the past two years, creating an estimated 9,000 domestic manufacturing jobs in 2008," added Bode, who will be present for the event. "With the right policies, the renewable energy industries are ready to meet the President-elect's call to double renewable energy production within three years and help drive our economy to recovery."

Cardinal Fastener is one of the few companies that will be hiring this year:

"Our company is planning for growth to meet expected increases in wind power sales, and is looking to add up to 40 full time associates in 2009 to our current 65," said Cardinal Founder and President John Grabner. Cardinal is the largest manufacturer of American-made large-scale threaded fasteners, which are used to bolt wind turbine towers, which can stand 200 feet tall or more, to their foundations. Cardinal uses only American-made materials and all production occurs at Cardinal's 95,000 square foot factory in Cleveland. The company has been in business for 25 years, and recently added a Wind Power team to meet demand from the expanding U.S. wind industry. 

Wind energy employs a relatively small number of workers:

About 80,000 U.S. workers are employed in the wind industry today, in jobs as varied as turbine component manufacturing, construction and installation of wind turbines, wind turbine operations and maintenance, services, and more. Wind power's recent growth has accelerated job creation, particularly in manufacturing, where the share of domestically manufactured wind turbine components has nearly doubled in three years, expanding from 25%-30% in 2005 to 50% in 2008. AWEA

Let's hope that as wind energy companies gear up to become more powerful, they set an example by treating their employees well.

Obama Meets With T. Boone Pickens

Update: CNN's take.
Obama is in Reno this morning and will be speaking at 10:30 am at an invitation only event at Wooster High. Live stream. 
Apparently, he's also scheduled to meet with oil man turned wind man T. Boone Pickens, who's also in Reno:

RGJ: U.S. Sen. Barack Obama is in Reno, having arrived last night, and is meeting with oil barron turned renewable energy champion T. Boone Pickens. It was announced late last night that Pickens would be in Reno. No word yet if he's here for any other reason than to meet with Obama. A photo op with the national press is scheduled.

I'm ambivalent about billionaire T. Boone Pickens. He's spent so much money promoting his PickensPlan that he gets the ear of powerful people. You know he wants incentives to do what he wants to do. But what's good for him might not be good for the U.S. But it could be. I'll be looking into his plan.

What Pickens had to say:

Pickens, in a statement released after today's meeting, said he ``assured Senator Obama that this is a nonpartisan campaign and that I will do everything in my power to work together with leaders who are willing to solve our immense energy problems.''

``Any credible domestic energy policy must reduce our dependence on foreign oil by at least 30 percent in the next 10 years,'' Pickens said. Obama, he said, ``was very engaged'' in their discussion and ``understands the issues and is interested and excited by the work we are doing.''