If all goes well, New Jersey will be the first state in the Northeast to build a wind farm off the Atlantic coast.
At present, according to this article, $19 million in grants is at stake, for the right to build as many as 200 windmills within 20 miles of the shore. The fight rages on as five companies are competing for this business, but by August, a company will be chosen to complete this project.
- Wind energy system operations do not generate air or water emissions and do not produce hazardous waste.
- They do not deplete natural resources such as coal, oil, or gas, or cause environmental damage through resource extraction and transportation, or require significant amounts of water during operation.
- If wind energy were to provide 20% of the nation’s electricity — a very realistic and achievable goal with the current technology — it could displace more than a third of the emissions from coal-fired power plants.
- Wind power is the least expensive, most developed renewable energy technology that is the fastest to build.
