US government announces opening of Atlantic coast for offshore windfarms

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/01/us-government-offshore-wind-farms-atlantic?intcmp=122


Offshore wind farms have attracted controversy around the world. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The Obama administration has for the first time opened up large areas off the Atlantic Coast for offshore wind farms.

The department of the interior said it was proposing to offer competitive lease sales on some 278,000 acres, or about 432 square miles, off the coasts of Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Virginia. The sale is expected to go ahead in the first half of 2013.

"Wind energy along the Atlantic holds enormous potential, and today we are moving closer to tapping into this massive domestic energy resource to create jobs, increase our energy security and strengthen our nation's competitiveness in this new energy frontier," the interior secretary, Ken Salazar, said in a statement.

If any turbines do actually go up, they would constitute the first offshore wind projects in the US. Over the last few years vast wind farms, with hundreds of turbines, have been built across the country – although wind power still makes up only 3% of energy use. However, the wind industry is expected to slow down or even come to a halt at the end of the year, with the expiry of tax credits.