Louisiana is set to break a clean energy milestone in the United States, launching the first two offshore wind farms in state waters.
The projects, known as Cajun Wind and Diamond Offshore Wind, have already been approved by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and the state's Department of Natural Resources. Cajun Wind is being developed by Danish manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems (via its North American arm Steelhead Americas) and Diamond Offshore Wind is being developed by Mitsubishi.
"For generations, the state of Louisiana has been a leader in energy production, and offshore wind energy is the next chapter in that great history as we expand our options for clean energy production and open new avenues for the development of our state economy," Governor Edwards said.
The exact size and expected energy output of the two plants have yet to be revealed. However, Louisiana — a state that has been particularly impacted by the oil and gas industries, as well as other polluting corporations — has set a goal to install five gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035.
The U.S. still lags far behind China and most European countries in terms of wind energy capacity and production.
While other countries have actually begun to transition away from dirty energy like gas and oil to clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar, the U.S. has largely replaced coal burning with methane burning, contributing even more to the overheating of our planet.
However, progress is slowly being made in the U.S. A large wind farm on the East Coast is moving ahead despite the best efforts of dirty energy industry lobbyists and will generate enough clean energy to power nearly 400,000 homes.
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