Delaware Delegation wants to prioritize offshore wind energy

As the U.S. Department of the Interior begins to reorganize the Minerals Management Service (MMS) – now known as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) – following the Deepwater Horizon crisis, Delaware’s Congressional delegation urged Secretary Ken Salazar in a July 14 letter to ensure that developing offshore wind energy is not delayed.

Sens. Tom Carper and Ted Kaufman (both D-Del.) and Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) expressed their concern that if offshore wind remains under the jurisdiction of BOEMRE, the development of an offshore clean energy plan for the United States could be compromised.

The bipartisan letter, which was also signed by two additional senators and four other members of Congress, states, “Minimizing administrative delay is vital to the success of offshore wind projects in the near and long-term, and for this reason we write to express our desire to see that offshore wind and renewable energy issues be regulated outside of BOEMRE at least temporarily.”
The delegation requested that the Interior Department explore the possibility of, “a special office or bureau specifically dedicated to offshore wind and renewables.”

Not only does the letter address the growing popularity of emissions-free electrical power, it mentions a recent Department of Interior/U.S. Department of Energy report that confirms that winds off the coast of the United States are a promising source of clean, renewable electrical power.

Currently, the Delaware coast is set to be one of the first places in U.S. coastal waters to have a wind farm.