Joe Biden approves first major wind farm off Massachusetts
US drive for wind power expected to stimulate domestic shipping industry.
Joe Biden has made good on a promise to slash carbon emissions by approving a major wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts. The 800MW Vineyard Wind 1 project is expected to stimulate the US domestic shipping industry and will power 400,000 homes.
“A clean energy future is within our grasp in the United States,” US secretary of the interior Deb Haaland said in a statement.
“The approval of this project is an important step toward advancing the [Biden] administration’s goals to create good-paying union jobs while combatting climate change and powering our nation.”
Vineyard Wind 1 will bring closer Biden’s goal of generating 30 giga watts of electricity from offshore wind by 2030. The US will need Jones-act compliant vessels for the project as cargo will need to be brought from US ports to US territorial waters, requiring them to be built, owned, crewed and flagged in the US in accordance with the cabotage law.
