There have been a series of news stories in the last two days about opposition to renewable energy. We keep our eye on such things and it seems to be happening more and more. This is to be expected as renewable energy installations are on the rise. We’ve written more about this in the Community Reluctance section of our new R.E.A.D. section of the website.
Every day there is a new story about people disapproving of solar or wind installations in their communities. It’s not that they don’t care about the environment; in many cases the people opposing the installations are self-avowed environmentalists. To some people, the addition of turbines to the skyline that they can see from their porch or long stretches of dark blue panels in a field where there used to be waiving wheat are forms of visual pollution.
Other objections come from health concerns, noise issues, or valid concerns over the harm that turbines bring to birds and bats. Whatever the concern, it is incumbent upon supporters of renewable energy and sustainable development, along with RE companies, to address those concerns either through greater education and/or through design of renewable energy installations that do not come with negative side effects that can be pointed to by those who would seek to oppose their proliferation.
You can see some of the stories from the past few days here:
