Another most timely story by Jerusalem Demsas in The Atlantic last week, this one about how environmental laws are being used to stymie land uses needed for the green energy transition – from renewable sources (wind turbines, solar farms) to new transmission lines.  The irony is abundant, and shows that opposition to changes in land use is not limited by political persuasion.

Demsas notes,

In the typical cultural script, a polluting corporation tries to crush the little guy; a pipeline threatens a defenseless fox; a faceless bureaucrat charts the course of a highway through a thriving neighborhood. Accordingly, American environmentalists have developed tools to help citizens delay or block development. These tools are now being used against clean-energy projects, hampering a green transition. The legal tactics that allow someone to challenge a pipeline can also help them fight a solar farm; the political rhetoric deployed against the siting of toxic-waste dumps can be redeployed against transmission lines.

Demsas also concludes with a paean that seems applicable to many land use fights, not just those for green energy.  She writes,

There are good reasons to oppose a development, of course, even a renewable-energy one—if it blocks public access to a national park, for instance. But opposing a wind turbine because you think it might be ugly is not reasonable. Delaying a solar project because you have a vague notion that it might affect tourism is not reasonable. And the reality is that our legal and political systems are incapable of differentiating reasonable from unreasonable objections.

Worth the read, at https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/wind-farms-community-opposition/675791/

And remember, Jerusalem Demsas will be here next week, speaking at Salt Lake County’s Regional Solutions event on November 7.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2023-regional-solutions-zoning-reform-for-housing-attainability-tickets-714916182547