Offshore Oil Rigs, or Windmills? It's Your View

While lounging on the beach, gazing out to sea, which would you prefer to look at -- oil rigs or windmills?

Most people are familiar with the appearance of offshore oil rigs, like these platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, as viewed from the beach at Fourchon, Louisiana.

But, with wind power rapidly evolving as the mainstay of the Bush administration's renewable energy policy, proposals for offshore wind farms are starting to emerge. What would an offshore wind farm look like to beachgoers? This mathematically calculated artist's rendering in the Washington Post shows the potential beach-view of a "farm" of 413-foot-tall, power-producing windmills proposed to be installed off the coast of Delaware.

A report just released by the Department of Energy claims the U.S. had the fastest growing wind power capacity in the world in 2005 and 2006, and that more than 61 percent of the U.S.'s total wind power capacity has been installed since President Bush took office in 2001.

Also See:
Bush Energy Policy: Make More, Use Less
What is Wind Power and How Does it Work? (Environment)