A nearly yearlong effort by the state to figure out the benefits and drawbacks of offshore, energy-producing wind farms is leaving some environmental groups less than blown away.

(TRENTON) – The Blue Ribbon Panel on Development of Wind Turbine Facilities in Coastal Waters today announced their interim report is publicly available and a public meeting has been scheduled to solicit feedback on the report. Acting Governor Richard J. Codey established the Blue Ribbon Panel by executive order last December. The panel is charged with studying the costs and benefits of developing offshore wind turbines. The interim report represents the progress to date toward meeting Codey’s mandate.

Offshore wind turbines may not provide substantial benefits to the state's environment and could come with some risks, a report by released today states.

November 30, 2005, 8:39 PM EST TRENTON, N.J. -- A panel appointed to determine if New Jersey should build energy-generating wind turbines off the coast has released an interim report that _ while it draws no conclusions _ has been criticized by some environmentalists as giving short shrift to wind energy benefits.

November 29, 2005 Newark, New Jersey [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] New Jersey already has the most generous solar incentives in the nation, and if new policies are adopted to the state's broad requirements, solar and all renewable energy technologies will stand to gain greatly over the next decade and beyond.