Feds fast-track mid-Atlantic offshore wind energy

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The government could issue leases for four new East Coast wind farms by year's end as part of a streamlined approval process designed to quickly identify the nation's most promising areas for offshore wind energy, the U.S. Department of the Interior said Monday.

The U.S. Department of Energy also said it intends to spend more than $50 million over the next five years to speed development of the farms and help meet President Barack Obama's goal of generating 80 percent of the nation's electricity from clean energy sources by 2035.
The Interior Department said the four sites it has identified as ripe for development are off the coasts of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.

Environmental groups including the Sierra Club and the Ocean Conservancy lauded the Obama administration for moving quickly to develop wind power, while some Republicans said the president's efforts don't go far enough to address the nation's energy problems.

"It's unwise for the Obama administration to exclusively focus on developing offshore wind in the Atlantic while ignoring the need for expanded oil and natural gas production," House Natural Resources Committee chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said in a statement.

The four states will receive expedited environmental reviews to help fast-track the projects, which are expected to create thousands of jobs.

"We applaud the decision to substantially shorten the permitting process in a way that will allow project developers to attract the investment necessary to support offshore wind projects," Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell said in a statement.

In November, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar vowed to spur offshore wind projects in the Atlantic Ocean by expediting permits and identifying promising areas for wind power to avoid potential conflicts.

Calls to streamline the process came after an eight-year review that finally resulted in a lease for the nation's first wind farm, off the coast of Massachusetts, being signed in October.