President Barack Obama faces a real political bind. Senator Edward Kennedy, who was an early backer of Obama and who suffered a seizure at his inauguration, is on the opposite side of the fence when it comes to a Cape Cod wind farm, Cape Wind.

Kennedy, a resident of Nantucket, has fought against the wind farm for eight years, arguing that it will cause radar interference to boats and planes, hurt wildlife and hinder the ocean views from Cape Cod, and has sued to stop the project. Kennedy owns an oceanside home that would have a direct view of the proposed 125 wind turbines that would stand 440 feet above sea level. However, Kennedy maintains that his spoiled view is not why he opposes the project.

However, a strong advocate for Cape Wind is Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a close friend of Obama. Patrick believes that this wind farm will be instrumental in making  his state a leader in alternative energy.

Obama has made it known that he is also a strong supporter of wind power. Obama pledged that the nation would “harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories” in his inaugural address. He also visited an Ohio wind turbine factory.

“There would have to be some extraordinary reason to not make a favorable decision, aside from deference to Ted Kennedy,” a project ally told the media. “And if deference to Ted Kennedy is what delays this project, this means that deference is being paid by the president himself—and [that he’s] doing so at the expense of his pledges on energy policy.”

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has set a goal of developing 2,000 megawatts of wind power capacity by 2020.

“With the growing interest in wind turbines we see in communities across the Commonwealth [of Massachusetts] and the abundant wind resource we have off our coast, wind power is going to be a centerpiece of the clean energy economy we are creating for Massachusetts,” said Patrick.

It is expected that an offshore facility will make up part of the 2,000 MW, with the U.S. Minerals Management Service this week, with the release of its favorable environmental impact statement on the Cape Wind project.

Massachusetts and Texas have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for two Wind Technology Testing Centers in the country. The Governor noted how this move will not only make Massachusetts and Texas hubs for wind power research, but also boost the potential economic gain of technology development, entrepreneurship and jobs.