Another Step Forward for Cape Wind Farm: Federal Court Upholds Decade-Long Review Process

A federal court has rejected the latest legal bid to stop what will very likely be the nation’s first offshore wind farm, Cape Wind. That’s good news for the project, and for all of us who are counting on having offshore wind as a powerful new tool in our clean energy belt.

Some of our most determined allies in the fight to make sure Cape Wind gets a fair hearing — the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Conservation Law Foundation, and Mass Audubon — were Friends of the Court in the proceedings, and welcomed the outcome (emphasis added):

Today’s federal court decision overwhelmingly rejects opponents’ claims against the government’s approval of Cape Wind, the first offshore wind project to be proposed and approved in the United States. Cape Wind is now one step closer to construction, after more than a decade of perseverance. In the meantime, American offshore wind power is ramping up off every coast—East, West, Gulf—and in the Great Lakes. NRDC, Conservation Law Foundation and Mass Audubon will continue to support the Cape Wind project and the development of sustainable, pollution-free American offshore wind energy, as this new industry takes flight.

As CLF VP Sue Reid says, the decision “comes not a moment too soon.” With contracts in hand, financing coming into place, and this legal decision, Cape Wind is moving ever closer to showing the U.S. the good things that offshore wind can bring. It’s high time.

Learn more:

• Court decision
• Cape Wind’s statement
• NRDC’s statement
• CLF’s statement