A majority of the members of the Massachusetts Legislature, 107 in total, representing Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate, including 28 Committee Chairmen, have signed onto a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar urging him to approve Cape Wind "as soon as possible."
This announcement coincides with an event in Newark, Delaware where Vice President Biden and Interior Secretary Salazar are highlighting offshore wind power development in the United States.
Chairman Frank I. Smizik who authored the letter said he was pleased to have obtained nearly 30 additional signatures less than a month after he first submitted the letter with 78 signatures. "Projects that start controversial up here usually stay controversial.
Not Cape Wind – rarely have I seen legislators come to such a consensus in support of a project as they learn more about it, and this letter – with a strong and ever-growing majority of the legislature signing on – represents that," said House Chairman Smizik.
"It's clear to me that people realize Cape Wind is a development that is good for the environment, good for the economy, and overall a real win for Massachusetts," Smizik added.
U.S. Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to issue a Record of Decision on Cape Wind in the near future. The Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of Interior issued Cape Wind a favorable Final Environmental Impact Statement in January.
In March, the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board voted unanimously to issue Cape Wind a 'Composite Certificate' that will finalize State permitting.
"I am pleased that a majority of the Massachusetts Legislature along with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and 86% of the citizens of Massachusetts support Cape Wind and want Massachusetts to become home to the nation's first offshore wind farm," stated Cape Wind President Jim Gordon. "Cape Wind is shovel-ready," Gordon added.
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