A recent article in Popular Science titled Outdated Zoning Laws Are Holding Renewable Energy Back https://www.popsci.com/environment/outdated-renewable-energy-laws/ got me to thinking that housing affordability isn’t the only thing being impacted by local land use regulations.  From the article:

When you’ve decided you’d like to install some solar panels on your home or in your community, for instance, there can be many legal barriers that can delay your doing so or even prevent it entirely. Permitting and zoning laws can become a major issue in some areas.

…an area might not be zoned for installing renewable energy, which means you can’t install it unless your local government decides to allow it. A zoning ordinance might allow it to be installed but have requirements for where it’s allowed to be installed due to concerns about things like community aesthetics. It could even be entirely unclear if installing a renewable energy system is permissible at all.

This is for individuals wanting to install a solar or wind energy generator on their home or property.  The situation is even worse for large scale renewable energy facilities, like wind turbine or solar panel farms.  Robert Bryce, an energy industry expert, has written on this issue a number of times. Most recently from his newsletter Real Clear Energy https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/05/19/ohio_county_veto_of_wind_project_shows_its_time_to_end_federal_wind_subsidies_833054.html

On May 5, commissioners in Crawford County, Ohio voted 2-1 in favor of a measure that prohibits the construction of wind projects in the county. The move halts a 300-megawatt project being promoted by Apex Clean Energy called Honey Creek Wind. 

The Crawford County vote matters for several reasons. First, it provides yet another example of the backlash in rural America against the landscape-blighting encroachment of giant wind turbines; and those rejections are piling up. The vote in Crawford County marks the 330th time that government entities from Maine to Hawaii have rejected or restricted wind projects since 2015. (Details on those rejections can be found in the Renewable Rejection Database.)

The backlash against the wind industry also exposes the growing social divide over climate change and how much each American will be required to do to slow it. These fights are about red versus blue, rural versus urban, and big business versus small-town America. Local governments and landowners are rejecting wind projects because of concerns about falling property values, ruined viewsheds, and potential loss of tourism dollars.

The same happens with solar projects.  It’s going to be hard to switch over to more renewable energy if we can’t get the facilities to make it possible built because of local opposition and subsequent land use restrictions.  Like with housing affordability issues, the problem again sometimes needs addressing at higher level policy forums, as Bryce points out:

…solar and wind projects are so unpopular in upstate New York that last year, the state pushed through regulations that will give Albany officials the authority to override the objections of local communities and issue permits for large renewable projects.

We gotta stop meeting like this, local officials!