Why America Doesn’t Build
"Local opposition, even if it is unreasonable or narrowly held, can derail projects and slow the green-energy transition without ever proving any of its claims."
What It’s About
Jerusalem Demsas explains how America’s inability to build critical clean-energy infrastructure stems from entrenched local resistance and legal challenges. Demsas argues that the inability to differentiate between reasonable and unreasonable objections hinders progress.
Upshot
Demsas outlines:
- Environmental Protections Misused: Laws originally created to protect communities and ecosystems are frequently repurposed to stall or block sustainable infrastructure projects
- Influence of Privileged Groups: Wealthy, politically connected individuals disproportionately leverage legal and political systems to oppose developments
- Deepening Inequality: Project delays and cancellations disproportionately harm the vulnerable by sustaining the use of energy sources that cause greater air pollution
Did you know? Nearly two-thirds of major solar-energy projects in the U.S. faced local litigation.
Why It Matters
Demsas’ review of the problems with public comment and participation are applicable to housing, industry, and transportation — all things we desperate need more of — but apply with particular and cruel irony to energy progress.
Who Wrote It
Jerusalem Demsas is a staff writer at The Atlantic.