WASHINGTON, July 25 (UPI) -- Advocates for wind energy sent a letter to the White House calling for accelerated development of the clean energy resource off the Atlantic coast.
More than 200 advocates signed a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama expressing support for wind development off the eastern coast of the United States.
Catherine Bowes, a new energy manager for the National Wildlife Federation, said offshore wind energy could be a win-win situation.
"Conservationists of all political stripes are united behind offshore wind as a winner for America's wildlife, public health and economy," she said in a statement.
Washington cleared the way for the Mid-Atlantic offshore wind energy transmission line in May. The decision allows project parent company Atlantic Grid Holdings to go ahead with a right-of-way proposal to build a transmission line capable of carrying 7,000 megawatts of electricity derived from wind energy to the mainland grid.
There are no commercial-scale wind farms offshore in the United States. A project proposed off the coast of Massachusetts could start providing electricity to the mainland grid within the next two years, however.