Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 24 april 2018

Trump likes coal, but that doesn’t mean he’s hostile to wind

aBy STEVE LeBLANC West Coast states are also
Associated Press hoping to turn their offshore
BOSTON (AP) — President winds into energy. One
Donald Trump has courted planned project along the
coal miners and cast doubt Northern California coast
on whether fossils fuel con- would create a 100-150
tribute to climate change, megawatt floating wind
but that hasn’t translated farm more than 20 miles
into hostility for renewable offshore. Projects have
energy — particularly off- also been eyed off Hawaii,
shore wind. in the Gulf of Mexico and
Using federal offshore even in the Great Lakes.
leases, wind power proj- Renewable energy sup-
ects along the East Coast, porters are backing the
including off the shores of development of offshore
Massachusetts, New Jer- wind power — with a few
sey, Connecticut, Virginia caveats.
and New York, are press- Offshore wind can help re-
ing ahead with the goal of duce carbon emissions, but
transforming the electric it’s critical to ensure they
grid and providing energy don’t harm underwater
to power millions of homes. ecosystems, especially the
The administration is look- endangered North Atlan-
ing to renewable energy tic right whale, said Sean
sources to help create “en- Mahoney, executive vice
ergy dominance” that will president of the Conserva-
guarantee America is a tion Law Foundation.
leading global energy ex- Long in the planning and
porter and can’t be held discussion phase, the push
hostage by foreign energy- for offshore wind power is In this Aug. 15, 2016, file photo, three of Deepwater Wind’s turbines stand in the water off Block
producing powers, Interior picking up steam. Island, R.I. Using federal offshore leases, wind power projects along the East Coast are pressing
Secretary Ryan Zinke says In New York, Democratic ahead in 2018, with the goal of transforming the electric grid and providing energy to power mil-
— even as Trump’s plan Gov. Andrew Cuomo has lions of homes. Associated Press
to expand offshore drilling called for more projects megawatts. Three proj- tenths of a mile apart. pany, which also hope to
has drawn harsh criticism and said the state will solicit ects — Vineyard Wind, Bay Bay State Wind, an initia- provide 200 megawatts of
from environmentalists and in 2018 and in 2019 a com- State Wind and Deepwater tive of Orsted and the util- wind power to Connecti-
coastal state governors of bined total of at least 800 Wind — are all vying to pro- ity Eversource, would be cut, can already claim
both parties. megawatts — with a long- duce some or all of the 800 about 20 miles south of Mar- bragging rights to hav-
“On designated federal term goal of developing 2.4 megawatts. tha’s Vineyard and could ing opened the nation’s
lands and off-shore, this gigawatts of offshore wind Vineyard Wind wants to power 500,000 homes. first offshore wind farm off
means an equal opportuni- by 2030, enough to power build its wind farm on a Orsted and Eversource Rhode Island’s Block Island
ty for all sources of respon- up to 1.2 million homes. 160,000-acre area south of are also hoping to build a last year — a five-turbine
sible energy development, In New Jersey, the Danish the island of Martha’s Vine- 200-megawatt wind farm project generating about
from fossil fuels to the full offshore wind company yard and 14 miles from the 65 miles off New London, 30 megawatts.
range of renewables,” Zin- Orsted, which is also work- nearest shore. Connecticut. Even as the various projects
ke said in a recent op-ed in ing on projects in Massa- The project — partly owned In Virginia, Orsted is part- and others move ahead,
The Boston Globe. “As we chusetts and Virginia, has by Portland, Oregon, re- nering with Dominion En- Zinke has announced that
look to the future, wind en- set a goal of supplying newable energy developer ergy on a wind project off two additional areas off
ergy — particularly offshore enough energy for 1.5 mil- Avangrid Renewables and Virginia Beach. Massachusetts totaling
wind — will play a greater lion homes. Democratic Copenhagen Infrastruc- Deepwater Wind is also nearly 390,000 acres are
role in sustaining American Gov. Phil Murphy has said ture Partners of Denmark looking to build in federal now available to be leased
energy dominance.” he wants New Jersey to — would consist of turbines waters southwest of Mar- for commercial wind ener-
To help streamline the ef- generate 3,500 megawatts spaced at least eight- tha’s Vineyard. The com- gy development.q
fort, Zinke wrote, he wants of offshore wind energy by
to give developers more 2030.
flexibility by letting them And in Massachusetts,
postpone detailed design Republican Gov. Charlie
decisions until later in the Baker is hoping to gener-
planning process to let ate 800 megawatts of off-
them take advantage of shore wind power as a first /arubatoday/
the latest technology. step toward a goal of 1,600