Chincoteague Island .Net

Governor Bob McDonnell has signed onto a Memorandum of Understanding with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and nine east coast governors, to establish the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium.

Through this consortium, Virginia will encourage the environmentally-responsible development of wind energy, and other sources of renewable energy, off Virginia’s coast.  In addition, it was announced by the Department of the Interior that a regional renewable energy office will be located in Virginia.

Several wind energy projects for the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf have been proposed for East Coast states, positioning the region to tap into the enormous potential of wind power in the U.S.  Developing this resource could create thousands of manufacturing, construction and operations jobs and displace older, inefficient fossil-fueled generating plants, helping significantly to combat climate change.

Salazar announced during a February, 2010 meeting with governors and representatives of Atlantic coast states that he was forming a consortium to discuss a regional approach to wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf.  All Atlantic coast states were invited to join.  The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Secretary Salazar and the governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.

Interior’s new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will oversee the development of wind and other renewable energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf.  In addition to cooperation with the governors, Interior will continue to work with local, state, tribal and federal stakeholders to facilitate the commercial leasing process for offshore renewable energy development through inter-governmental task forces.

Task forces have been formally established with Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland, and are in process for New York, South Carolina, and Florida.