Cape Wind Project Gets Crucial Green Light

A controversial wind farm off Cape Cod has received a crucial permit from a state regulatory agency, possibly paving the way for it to become the first large-scale offshore wind power plant in the United States.

The state Energy Facilities Siting Board voted seven to zero to issue a so-called "super-permit," which the project's developer, Cape Wind Associates, had considered a major hurdle.

"Today's unanimous vote approving Cape Wind not only marks the end of a seven-year state regulatory process," said Cape Wind President Jim Gordon. "It paves the way for new clean energy jobs, action on climate change, and a renewable energy future for Massachusetts."

Opponents are vowing to take their fight to the courts to stop the project, which they say will despoil views and have adverse environmental impacts on Nantucket Sound.

"We'll start our process of filing an appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts," said Glenn Wattley, president of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. "That's where this whole matter should have been in the first place."

The project consists of 130 wind turbines spread over 24 square miles, and it will cost an estimated $1 billion to build.

The plan now goes back to the federal Department of the Interior, which gave the project a favorable environmental impact report in January.