Cape Wind saga makes cover of New Yorker

Feds give green light for Cape Wind

Heck, it took only a mere nine years of permitting. Early details of Interior Department approval, as reported by the Associated Press.

Construction of Cape Wind's 130 turbines on shoal in middle of Nantucket Sound could begin by end of year, according to the company.

But first, the inevitable litigation from opponents.

Looking good for Cape Wind

... according to a story in today's Boston Globe --

The Bush administration is expected to issue as early as Friday a favorable final environmental review of the nation's first offshore wind farm project, clearing the way for Cape Wind to obtain a federal lease to erect 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound.

Nicholas Pardi, a spokesman for the Minerals Management Service, said last week that the agency, part of the Interior Department, is planning to release its findings "by the end of the year." Supporters of the project who have been told of the agency's timetable said a favorable review should come in the next few weeks and possibly on Dec. 5. ...

I've written a bit about the Cape Wind project over the years, first as a reporter with the Cape Cod Times and then as blogger at Wind Farmer's Almanac and Renewable Energy Revolution, media adviser to the Clean Power Now non-profit advocacy group, op-ed contributor to the Providence Journal and freelance writer at CapeCodToday.com.