The Obama administration's hypocrisy on offshore energy production

AP/Fuel Fix:

The development of offshore wind farms took another halting step forward Thursday with the federal approval of a research facility off Virginia’s coast to test wind turbines in a harsh open seas environment.

The decision clears the way for the construction of two 6-megawatt turbines 27 miles off Virginia Beach on the outer continental shelf, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement. The agency approved a research lease with the state last year.

The twin turbines would generate enough electricity to power 3,000 homes, according to the statement.

“Data collected under this research lease will help us better understand the wind potential, weather and other conditions off of Virginia’s coast,” Ross Hopper said.

While offshore wind development has been in the planning stages for years off Massachusetts, the United States has no offshore wind farms, lagging far behind northern European nations.

In a statement, Gov. Terry McAuliffe said the approval of the offshore research center is an “important step in our mission to be the first state to install offshore wind turbines in federal waters.”

But even this incremental step in the development of ocean-worthy wind turbines has had its setbacks.

Last year, Dominion Resources Inc. announced that the bids on the construction of two 500-foot turbines had come in much higher than anticipated. The energy company said the bids had come back in the range of $375 million to $400 million, double the company’s estimate for the work.
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Who knew that wind power was not free?   And what about the objections to offshore oil production in the same region as being a troublesome hindrance to navigation.  It turns out it was just a rationalization for a position the anti-energy left wanted all along.