President Barack Obama says his administration is creating the first U.S. program to authorize offshore projects to generate electricity from wind and ocean currents.
Obama said in an Earth Day speech Wednesday that his administration's move will open the door to major investments in clean energy generated offshore. States such as New Jersey and Delaware have wind energy projects pending, for example.
Other coastal states, though, are divided about whether to exploit the resource.
Obama says that wind could generate as much as 20 percent of the U.S. electricity demand by 2030 if its full potential is pursued on land and offshore.