Biden wants to move energy offshore, but choppy seas are ahead
By Joshua Partlow The Washington Post,Updated May 9, 2021, 4:13 a.m.
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Wind turbines at the San Gorgonio Pass wind farm, owned by NextEra Energy Inc., in Whitewater, California, on Feb. 17, 2021.Bing Guan/Bloomberg
DORCHESTER, N.J. - In his three decades servicing oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, boat captain Keith Piper rode out all manner of storms and gales. Still, he had never faced the elements that tested him last winter at a wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island. Subzero temperatures. Snow. A norâeaster blowing 70 miles per hour. Coffee sloshing in the pot and his 500-ton liftboat - propped above the waves on four hydraulic legs - vibrating from the force of the wind.