Massachusetts Offshore Wind Project Approved by First Circuit

A wind energy project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard can proceed after the First Circuit found government agencies properly considered its impact on whales.

A group of Nantucket, Mass., residents tried to block the project, which could generate enough power for 400,000 homes, over concerns that it could harm North Atlantic Right Whales.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Marine Fisheries Service “followed the law in analyzing the right whale’s current status and environmental baseline, the likely effects of the Vineyard Wind project on the right whale, and the efficacy of measures to mitigate those ...