Although the Obama administration has offered offshore oil leases, it has also announced that it is offering competitive lease sales for wind energy development in areas off the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Virginia. What makes this announcement so important is the fact that this is the first time that a portion of the outer continental shelf will be leased for renewable energy development.
As explained in
EcoWatch, the area off the coast of Virginia alone can support more than 2,000 megawatts of wind generation, which can power an estimated 700,000 homes. The areas off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island are expected to be able to support about an additional 2,000 megawatts of wind generation.
