Yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Interior Department announced that it will issue a final decision on the Cape Wind Project by the end of April.

As you know, this has been a very long and costly battle for both supporters and opponents of the project. Supporters claim that the project will boost Cape Cod's economy, have minimal impact on fishing (and may actually increase fish stocks), preserve the natural beauty of the Cape, and provide an average of 170 megawatts - which is nearly 75% of the average electricity demand for Cape Cod and the Islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

But opponents of the offshore wind farm would ruin the natural landscape, end up being too costly for consumers and pose hazards to marine vessel navigation. As well, Native Americans in that region are now saying that the project will interfere with their age-old spiritual rituals and ancestral grounds.

Now I'm certainly not on the inside of either camp. But you simply cannot avoid the fact that there's an awful lot of well-funded political influence behind the opposition. Influence that certainly wouldn't exist if the views in that region weren't so spectacular and contributed to some extremely high property values.

Nonetheless, many analysts believe that if the Cape Wind Project doesn't happen, it could be a serious blow to future offshore wind development. But we don't buy that for a second. Mostly because you simply won't find the same kind of well-funded political influence in the offshore areas of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, where future offshore development is almost certain.

Jeff