The first offshore wind farm in the United States has been approved by Washington. The Cape Wind project is a proposed 130 turbine wind farm in Nantucket Sound. It has been opposed for years by home owners in Cape Cod who claim, in essence, that it would ruin their view of the ocean. Recently, the Wampanoag tribe has made, essentially, the same claim. They say that the wind farm would obstruct their view of the sunrise for sacred ceremonies. The tribe, as well as groups in Cape Cod, have promised future lawsuits to block the project.
The US has lagged behind European countries and China in the development of offshore wind energy. There have been concerns that if the Cape Wind project was not approved that the development of US offshore wind power would be seriously setback even further.