Today, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar unveiled large-scale plans for the rapid development of off-shore wind in the U.S. As stated in their media release:
"Under the National Offshore Wind Strategy, the Department of Energy is pursuing a scenario that includes deployment of 10 gigawatts of offshore wind generating capacity by 2020 and 54 gigawatts by 2030. Those scenarios include development in both federal and state offshore areas, including along Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts as well as in Great Lakes and Hawaiian waters. Those levels of development would produce enough energy to power 2.8 million and 15.2 million average American homes, respectively."
10,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2020, and 54,000 megawatts by 2030, shows that wind power is a viable alternative to not only proposed new atomic reactors, but also to 20 year license extensions at dangerously deteriorated old reactors. Beyond Nuclear has made that exact argument in proceedings before Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety (sic) and Licensing Boards in numerous places, including: Fermi 3; Calvert Cliffs 3; Seabrook; and Davis-Besse.