U.S. Approval of Cape Wind Project Marks New Era in Renewable Energy

The Progressive Business Leaders Network (PBLN) offered the following statement today on the Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s decision to grant federal approval to the Cape Wind project:

The era of putting Renewable Energy at the center of our economy has begun. Cape Wind offers significant benefits for the region including job creation, stable pricing, long-term economic development and of course public health and the environment. Moreover, as the site of the first major off-shore wind project in the nation, Massachusetts will be well-positioned to become an important hub for the nascent off-shore wind industry. The project is of national significance as experts say the U.S. lags 20 years behind Europe in off-shore wind power development. We applaud the statement today by U.S. Interior Secretary Salazar who said 
"This will be the first of many projects up and down the Atlantic coast which I expect will come on-line in the years ahead as we build a new energy future for our country." 

We believe any objections on pricing to be shortsighted. Increased supply will have a stabilizing and downward impact on overall prices in the energy market. In addition, when Washington adopts federal legislation to price carbon emissions, the entire American economy will make a giant leap forward. Because of Cape Wind and other serious market-based policy reforms, renewable energy will emerge as a bargain. In addition we hope the long review process and the serious rule-making that were part of Cape Wind’s journey have made it easier for other entrepreneurs and investors to pursue renewable energy opportunities for the public benefit.

We offer congratulations to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Policy Ian Bowles, as well as the many stakeholders, public, private and non-profit who have brought this project to this point. We also offer our congratulations to the resilient, determined, visionary entrepreneur (and PBLN member!) Jim Gordon, CEO of Cape Wind. 

Note: PBLN Energy/Environment Coordinator Roger Freeman (CEO of renewables developer Solventerra) was quoted in today's Boston Globe coverage of the impact of the Cape Wind ruling on business in Massachusetts.

                                              

The Progressive Business Leaders Network is a non-profit education and advocacy organization in which CEOs and other top business leaders advance the idea of inventing a more sustainable economy via socially and environmentally responsible business practices and public policies. PBLN supports pricing carbon and broad and aggressive measures to move the economy, society and environment forward. Read the PBLN position statement here. For more information about our May 11th Summit in Washington DC see www.pbln.org or call 617 515-9004.

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