Boston's Cape Wind Associates said its 420 megawatt offshore Cape Wind project took a big step forward in its final year of permitting with the release of a draft environmental impact statement from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The draft statement gave the project a passing grade, saying the Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off the coast of Massachusetts is environmentally and economically superior to alternate sites that were studied.

The report also said the offshore wind farm will not have major impacts on birds, fish, marine mammals, fishing, tourism, or on sea or air navigation.

"With news of $100 per barrel oil, urgent calls from scientists to take action on climate change and with the public's desire for greater energy independence and new jobs, this report couldn't come at a more important moment," said Jim Gordon, president of Cape Wind.

The $1 billion project, which will locate 130 turbines over 24 square miles of the Nantucket Sound, has attracted some high profile opponents as the turbines would be within view of some exclusive Cape Cod beaches.

In November, the Cape Cod Commission blocked the project's request to bury the transmission cables needed to connect the wind farm to the state's power grid (see Cape Wind's latest hurdle a breeze?).

Cape Wind has appealed that decision to the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board, which it says has final authority on the matter.