Salazar signs Cape Wind lease

The nonprofit Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound group was formed in 2001 to fight the project and, at one point, its members included former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and billionaire oil heir William Koch.
 
The 28-year lease is for 25 square miles in Nantucket Sound off the coast of Massachusetts. The project would involve 130 planned wind turbines that could produce up to 468 megawatts of electricity — and on average could power more than 200,000 homes in Massachusetts.
 
It could serve as a model for other planned projects off Atlantic-coast states such as Delaware and New Jersey.
 
Salazar’s signing comes amid a series of renewable-energy announcements this month, which the administration has designated National Energy Awareness Month.
 
The White House on Tuesday announced plans to install solar panels on the White House roof for the first time since President Carter’s administration. Salazar also announced on Tuesday the approval of first-time large-scale solar projects on federal lands.