The Washington Post has stated that source close to the Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, will approve the Cape Wind wind farm project off the coast of Nantucket.

This decision will conclude nine years of planning and debate over the controversial wind farm and will see the first American offshore wind power project built.

Cape Wind will see the installation of 130 wind turbines at a cost of about $1 billion; a move opposed by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and supported by six east coast governors.

More good news for the expanding wind energy industry in the United Sates.

Yesterday Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, reinforced the importance of alternative energy production for the future of America by promising to make renewable energy a top priority.

Not only did Salazar issue an official order to make the production, development and delivery of renewable energy a top priority for the Department of the Interior, but he established a task force dedicated to energy and climate change and identifying the best locations on U.S. public soil for large-scale production of wind power, as well as solar, geothermal and biomass energies.

“More so than ever, with job losses continuing to mount, we need to steer the country onto a new energy path,” said Salazar. “One that creates new jobs and puts America out front in new, growing industries, one that promotes investment and innovation here at home, and one that makes wise use of our domestic resources.”