There's a good reason GE picked Rhode Island for America's first offshore wind farm

The kinds of energy policies we'll all have to adopt in the coming decades are already on display in New England. The region barely uses any coal, and the six states there are embracing renewables like it's 2050. In 2014 Rhode Island and Vermont were the only two states in the US that didn't use any coal at all. That makes Rhode Island the most logical place for the nation's first offshore wind farm, called Block Island Wind Farm. The wind farm will generate 30 megawatts of energy — enough to power every home on Block Island. Steady, reliable winds off the coasts could provide substantially more energy than turbines located on land.  While it's a first for the US, the wind farm is just the next step in Rhode Island's impressive clean energy policies. All of New England combined uses less coal than each of the 35 most coal-heavy states did on their own.