4 ms·

Across America, clean energy plants are banned faster than they're being built

anovikov 3y ago
Who are the people funding it? CCP? Unlikely: they benefit from exporting solar and increasingly, wind energy hardware to the U.S., big time. They are on the losing end if demand for those sinks. Putin? To increase U.S. demand for fossil fuels and thus reduce exports, making his own more indispensable? Unlikely, because these are a drop in the bucket vs what CCP deploys, anyway, so it won't be a big difference. Who then? Just some crazy rich people who honestly believe in conspiracy theories, or are zombified under Trump's influence? This is not how i imagine rich people. It's different from typical run-of-the mill NIMBY because NIMBY is, while utterly selfish, is rational: people protect values of their homes through prevention of building more homes around. But preventing renewable energy, people prevent tax dollars and land use fees from it, which feed into local economy, making things like local roads and schools better, and boosting, not sinking, values of their real estate. I struggle to imagine who those people really are. Unless they are indeed, deeply irrational and are against renewables simply because they are a new thing, or because Trump told them to.
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  Republicans. https://www.volts.wtf/p/the-right-wing-groups-behind-renewable https://www.volts.wtf/p/the-right-wing-groups-behind-renewab... With regards to your crazy rich people comment: Yes, there’s a crazy rich person (Connie Ehrlich) in northern Indiana who is attempting to stall the Mammoth Solar installation because it doesn’t align with her values and beliefs. As of this comment, Connie has posted on her Facebook group a slew of elected positions open that her 1.1k followers should consider running for. https://www.facebook.com/groups/350548792612785/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/350548792612785/ https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/30/its-got-nasty-the-battle-to-build-the-uss-biggest-solar-power-farm https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/30/its-got-... Now, these parts of rural America are shrinking and dying anyway, so it’s hard to say if this is going to have a material impact if you can route around the ignorance with policy at the state level and siting the projects in more favorable jurisdictions until these folks age out.
- ZeroGravitas 3y ago
  Obvious answer you missed: The people selling the fossil fuels it replaces. It's a direct financial threat to them. They've been behind decades of known propaganda. They have deep links to Republican political movements across the US.
  - anovikov 3y ago
    But fossil fuels can be more profitably sold abroad anyway.
    - gumby 3y ago
      They are global commodities so reduced demand in one place lowers prices everywhere.
FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
I've been surprised by conversations with otherwise "good, liberal" people who freak out and start protesting offshore wind when it's near their beach condo. They barely have arguments. I think it's just a knee-jerk "reeeeee" against any (however erroneously perceived) threat to their property value. And it's not just my own personal anecdotes. Remember Cape Wind, off Martha's Vineyard? Which was supposed to happen like a decade ago? It was blocked by an unholy alliance of the Koch brothers ("of course", but wait for it) -- and the Kennedy family. So it has become clear to me that everyone is just completely full of shit. I do have some small hope for grass-roots stuff at the bottom though. If I can buy some solar panels and a power station and with that investment free myself from electricity bills, or allow myself to live on cheaper land where power lines don't run -- if I can GTFO of the rat race -- and if other people are doing the same -- then I will at least be generating my own power, and they theirs. Maybe you can't sell rich people on renewables -- "it'll ruin the view" -- but you can sell some ordinary people on their own freedom.

Who are the people funding it? CCP? Unlikely: they benefit from exporting solar and increasingly, wind energy hardware to the U.S., big time. They are on the losing end if demand for those sinks. Putin? To increase U.S. demand for fossil fuels and thus reduce exports, making his own more indispensable? Unlikely, because these are a drop in the bucket vs what CCP deploys, anyway, so it won't be a big difference. Who then? Just some crazy rich people who honestly believe in conspiracy theories, or are zombified under Trump's influence? This is not how i imagine rich people. It's different from typical run-of-the mill NIMBY because NIMBY is, while utterly selfish, is rational: people protect values of their homes through prevention of building more homes around. But preventing renewable energy, people prevent tax dollars and land use fees from it, which feed into local economy, making things like local roads and schools better, and boosting, not sinking, values of their real estate. I struggle to imagine who those people really are. Unless they are indeed, deeply irrational and are against renewables simply because they are a new thing, or because Trump told them to.

toomuchtodo 3y ago
Republicans. https://www.volts.wtf/p/the-right-wing-groups-behind-renewable https://www.volts.wtf/p/the-right-wing-groups-behind-renewab... With regards to your crazy rich people comment: Yes, there’s a crazy rich person (Connie Ehrlich) in northern Indiana who is attempting to stall the Mammoth Solar installation because it doesn’t align with her values and beliefs. As of this comment, Connie has posted on her Facebook group a slew of elected positions open that her 1.1k followers should consider running for. https://www.facebook.com/groups/350548792612785/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/350548792612785/ https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/30/its-got-nasty-the-battle-to-build-the-uss-biggest-solar-power-farm https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/30/its-got-... Now, these parts of rural America are shrinking and dying anyway, so it’s hard to say if this is going to have a material impact if you can route around the ignorance with policy at the state level and siting the projects in more favorable jurisdictions until these folks age out.
ZeroGravitas 3y ago
Obvious answer you missed: The people selling the fossil fuels it replaces. It's a direct financial threat to them. They've been behind decades of known propaganda. They have deep links to Republican political movements across the US.
- anovikov 3y ago
  But fossil fuels can be more profitably sold abroad anyway.
  - gumby 3y ago
    They are global commodities so reduced demand in one place lowers prices everywhere.

FooBarBizBazz 3y ago

I've been surprised by conversations with otherwise "good, liberal" people who freak out and start protesting offshore wind when it's near their beach condo. They barely have arguments. I think it's just a knee-jerk "reeeeee" against any (however erroneously perceived) threat to their property value. And it's not just my own personal anecdotes. Remember Cape Wind, off Martha's Vineyard? Which was supposed to happen like a decade ago? It was blocked by an unholy alliance of the Koch brothers ("of course", but wait for it) -- and the Kennedy family. So it has become clear to me that everyone is just completely full of shit. I do have some small hope for grass-roots stuff at the bottom though. If I can buy some solar panels and a power station and with that investment free myself from electricity bills, or allow myself to live on cheaper land where power lines don't run -- if I can GTFO of the rat race -- and if other people are doing the same -- then I will at least be generating my own power, and they theirs. Maybe you can't sell rich people on renewables -- "it'll ruin the view" -- but you can sell some ordinary people on their own freedom.