{"id":86616,"date":"2024-09-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insideclimatenews.org\/?p=86616"},"modified":"2024-09-25T20:02:26","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T00:02:26","slug":"inside-clean-energy-solar-power-rural-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insideclimatenews.org\/news\/26092024\/inside-clean-energy-solar-power-rural-opposition\/","title":{"rendered":"Digging Deep to Understand Rural Opposition to Solar Power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The United States needs to build vast amounts of renewable energy, and rural communities have an abundance of flat cropland that can accommodate wind and solar power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the push to build utility-scale renewable energy projects is facing opposition from many rural residents and local governments. The most common objections are that energy projects will harm the visual landscape and alter the character of a place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe biggest challenge in rural communities is people don’t like change,\u201d said Paul Mason, a fourth-generation dairy farmer in southeastern Pennsylvania. He allowed a solar company to build a project on seven acres of his land, but he can understand why others object to development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New research<\/a> from the University of Pittsburgh helps to broaden understanding of what factors drive rural attitudes about solar power. The authors interviewed 32 farmers and 16 nonfarmers in an area along the Pennsylvania-Maryland border that includes two counties in each state. They found that projects are more likely to be welcomed if they are smaller and built with respect for the landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legacy of coal production plays a role in public views, with some people hostile to renewable energy because they see it as a competitor for the coal that once was essential for the local economy. Others said they were open to new energy projects in part because of the opportunity to revitalize the economy without the environmental and health damage they associate with coal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy kind of approach to business is, \u2018How can I look out for my operation without being detrimental to other people?\u2019\u201d Mason said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He participated in a 2021 solar conference<\/a> that the paper mentions, but he was not one of the farmers interviewed by the authors. His farm is in Nottingham, Pa., which is east of the area in the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is pleased with the solar project on his farm, but wouldn\u2019t want to host a large, utility-scale development, which can occupy hundreds or even thousands of acres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat’s no longer diversification,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s changing my business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors conducted interviews with a promise of anonymity so the respondents would be comfortable speaking freely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lead author is Shanti Gamper-Rabindran, an economist at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public & International Affairs. She said she came away from this project optimistic that development can happen in a way that gets support from rural communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key concepts in the paper is the emotional connection between farmers and their land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFarmers\u2019 place attachment to farmland is complex,\u201d the authors wrote in the paper, published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science. \u201cThey derive a sense of peace and security from their farms and feel an obligation to nurture their land. They use their farms to provide a secure place and livelihood for their family and to leave a legacy and homestead for their heirs. If farmers perceive an energy project as protecting the valued attributes of place, whether by enhancing its economic viability (thus enabling them to continue owning, working and living on the land) or cultural meaning, they are more likely to support that project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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