After YEARS of struggle cape wind got final approval this morning. Just in time to get ready to be sued by a bunch of NIMBYS.

The decision today by U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar to allow the Cape Wind project to move ahead means more Massachusetts jobs and is a real demonstration of what can happen when concerned citizens are mobilized through effective grassroots organization, according to the heads of the Civil Society Institute and Clean Power Now.

Clean Power Now Executive Director Barbara Hill said: “We applaud Secretary Salazar for his vision and leadership in making this landmark decision and look forward to the day when the wind farm in Nantucket Sound will be producing the majority of the electrical needs of the Cape and islands establishing our region as a national model of sustainability and a clean energy future.”

Pam Solo, president, Civil Society Institute, said: “Cape Wind will bring jobs and manufacturing, as well as genuinely clean energy. A new offshore wind industry in America is launched today with this decision, which is a huge boost for the U.S. on the regional and national levels. This is an enormous accomplishment and is as much a victory for citizen participation as it is for clean energy.”

Cape Wind is the first approved offshore wind farm for the United States and marks the beginning of a booming industry for the Great Lakes and Eastern Seaboard.

Solo and Hill called on opponents of the Cape Wind project to adopt a more constructive approach and to work with proponents. Further lawsuits and other stalling tactics will only delay the inevitable and cost taxpayers millions of dollars, according to Solo and Hill.

A March 2009 survey commissioned by the Civil Society Institute found that 86 percent of Bay State residents – and 74 percent of Cape & islands residents – support Cape Wind. (See here for more information.)

Cape Wind involves 130 wind turbine towers in Horseshoe Shoals, a shallow area in the federal waters of Nantucket Sound, and would produce enough clean power for 75 percent of the Cape & islands energy needs. To learn more about Cape Wind, go to here.

We here at The Sietch have been following and fighting for this wind farm for the last 5+ years, and frankly it is great that this project has FINALLY been approved. It strikes me as one of the absolute most moronic things in the world that while oil platforms are catching on fire in the gulf, and tar sands are busy destroying Canada, it took this long to approve a wind farm.

Some reactions from important (sounding) people.

Jim Gordon, president of Cape Wind Associates

“Secretary Salazar’s decision today to approve Cape Wind has launched the American offshore wind industry. It allows our nation to harness an abundant and inexhaustible clean energy source for greater energy independence, a healthier environment and green jobs.”

US Senator Scott Brown

“I am strongly opposed to the administration’s misguided decision to move forward with Cape Wind. While I support the concept of wind power as an alternative source of energy, Nantucket Sound is a national treasure that should be protected from industrialization.”

US Senator John F. Kerry

“This day was a long time in coming, but I believe the future of wind power in the Massachusetts and the United States will be stronger knowing that the process was exhaustive, and that it was allowed to work and wind its way through the vetting at all levels with public input. I have always advocated wind energy in Massachusetts and I accept and support Secretary Salazar’s judgment today that Cape Wind should go forward. This is jobs and clean energy for Massachusetts.”

George Bachrach, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts

“The approval of Cape Wind is a critical step toward ending our reliance on foreign oil and achieving energy independence. It is also an important milestone in our country’s commitment to renewable energy that will both reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and begin our conversion to a new economic engine focused on green technology and jobs. No place better for the new economy to begin than in Mass.”

Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club

“Today’s announcement is a huge victory for clean energy. Clean energy like offshore wind power will help create safe, sustainable jobs, and true energy independence. Projects like this one will help infuse new life into our economy and help make us a leader in the global clean energy marketplace.”

Kert Davies, Greenpeace research director

“Today’s announcement that Cape Wind is moving forward is an enormous step forward toward America’s clean energy future and the fight to solve global warming. It is a shot of welcome good news in the face of climate and energy policy confusion in Washington and an oil spill of epic proportions in the Gulf.”

Denise Bode, chief executive of the American Wind Energy Association

“Such forward-thinking decisions are necessary for the U.S. to realize the many environmental and economic benefits of offshore wind. The U.S. offshore wind industry will build on the success and the lessons learned from the nearly twenty years of experience in Europe to provide clean, pollution-free, electricity along the coasts and in the Great Lakes.”

US Representative Edward Markey

“The same winds that delivered the Mayflower to Massachusetts and created the Perfect Storm will now deliver a clean energy future to Massachusetts and create new jobs. America’s energy future can now ride the winds of change out of our dirty energy doldrums.”

Jennifer Nassour, chairwoman of the Massachusetts Republican party

“Today political convenience has trumped environmental conservation. It’s no surprise that Governor Deval Patrick would support such an imprudent decision on Cape Wind from his buddy President Obama. Instead of preserving the environmental sanctuary of the Cape Cod shoreline, Governor Patrick chose to line his campaign coffers and pay back National Grid and Cape Wind for their sweetheart deal. Governor Patrick should immediately return donations from National Grid executives.”