First Offshore Wind Farm in the U.S. Approved

Wind energy advocates scored a huge victory today with the announcement from U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that the country's first offshore wind farm, dubbed Cape Wind, will be built in the Nantucket Sound. The 130-turbine development could provide up to 75% of all electricity for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket.

Land turbines abound in the U.S., but the $1 billion Cape Wind offshore project has been mired in controversy for the better part of the past decade. Opponents of...