U.S. Navy Will Accept (Floating) Wind Farms Off California’s Central Coast

Anything that promotes offshore wind is a positive development, but I’m not sure how much practical import it carries.  The reason the East Coast is getting into offshore wind (and the West Coast isn’t) is ocean depth.  You can be 25 miles off the coast of New Jersey and still be in 80 feet off water, but just a few miles into the Pacific the ocean floor is thousands of feet below.

Thus we’re talking about floating (rather than moored) turbines, which , while they’re making some headway in Europe, are significantly more expensive to install.