Rich white people are overwhelmingly blocking wind farms

[Think. Again.]

Michelle Lewis | Sep 26 2023 - 2:49 pm PT
Full Article: https://electrek.co/2023/09/26/rich-white-people-are-overwhelmingly-blocking-wind-farms/

The NIMBYs blocking the deployment of wind farms are overwhelmingly rich and white in the US and Canada, according to a new study.

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The study, “Prevalence and predictors of wind energy opposition in North America,” is newly published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by researchers from UC Santa Barbara, the University of Michigan, and Gallup.

Study here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2302313120

In the US, opposition was concentrated in the Northeast in areas with a higher proportion of white residents and a lower proportion of Hispanic residents. In addition, the names of the people who opposed wind projects were overwhelmingly likely (92.4%) to be white.

In Canada, opposition was concentrated in Ontario and in wealthy communities. In both countries, larger projects were more likely to face opposition than smaller projects. The number of people engaging in opposition was small at a given project: the median number of protesters was 23 in the US and 34 in Canada.


Spatial distribution of wind energy projects and opposition in the United States of America and Canada. Projects that experienced opposition are shown in red. Darker shades indicate a larger concentration of plants in that specific area. Source: PNAS study

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The researchers termed this “energy privilege,” which they describe in the abstract as “wherein the delay and cancellation of clean energy in wealthier, whiter communities leads to continued pollution in poorer communities, and communities of color.”

Leah Stokes, lead author and associate professor of environmental politics at UC Santa Barbara, said:

Fossil fuel plants are predominantly located in poorer communities and communities of color. These plants create pollution. We need to replace fossil fuel power plants with clean energy, like wind and solar.

When wealthier, whiter communities oppose wind energy projects in their backyards, they extend the lifetime of fossil fuel projects. This is an injustice.

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Full Article: https://electrek.co/2023/09/26/rich-white-people-are-overwhelmingly-blocking-wind-farms/

Study here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2302313120

[Effete Snob]

1. Rich white people up to no good?

Nah… you don’t say.

[CurtEastPoint]

2. I saw windmill farms all over northern France this month.

Different mindset I guess

[Think. Again.]

3. Yeah...

...the U.S. is behind pretty much the entire world when it comes to establishing our future National Energy Security.

[Stargazer99]

4. The rich are the problem

[Think. Again.]

5. Yeah...

...it doesn't really make sense that we are all here on a planet with resources to provide for our growth and well-being, but somewhere along the line we decided we should let only some of us have unlmited access to those resources, and make everyone else have to somehow find a way to pay those few for what we need.

It's a weird set up. I can't figure why we did it this way.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. They object to wind farms when they block "the view"

[no_hypocrisy]

7. This stance seems a bit . . . inconsistent

The USSC ruled decades ago that local governments could seize land from private land owners by deeming it "blighted" and using eminent domain. And then sell the same land to developers who could "improve" the same land.

This has been done to improve the land for "social good," such as building highways.

I'm surprised this tactic hasn't been (yet) employed for wind farms.

[Think. Again.]

8. Personally, I think ...

...eminant domain should be used to take over the fossil fuel companies' assets, keep the same workers, and start scaling down the oil and coal while at the same time building up the non-CO2 alternatives.