The United States will need thousands of wind farms. Will small towns follow?
In the fight against climate change, national objectives come up against local resistance. A county has scheduled 19 nights of meetings to discuss a wind farm.
MONTICELLO, Illinois - Land values depressed. Sparkling shadows. Falling ice. One by one, a real estate appraiser rattled off what he said were the deleterious effects of wind farms as a crowd in a central Illinois farming community clung to his every word.
"It's painful," said Kayla Gallagher, a nearby cattle rancher who opposes the plan. "Nobody wants to be here."
In the fight against global warming, the federal government is injecting a record $370 billion in clean energy, President Biden wants the country's electricity to be 100% carbon-free by 2035, and many states and utilities plan to increase wind and solar power.
But while policymakers can set lofty goals, America's power grid is actually determined in town halls, county courthouses, and community buildings across the country.
The only way to achieve Mr. Biden's ambitious goals is if rural communities, which have large swaths of land needed for commercial wind and solar farms, can be persuaded to adopt projects renewable energy. Many of them.
According to an analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the United States would need to build more than 6,000 projects like Monticello to operate the economy on solar, wind, nuclear or other clean forms of energy.
In Piatt County, home to 16,000 people, the The project at issue is Goose Creek Wind, which was proposed by Apex Clean Energy, a Virginia-based wind and solar farm developer. Apex has spent years negotiating leases with 151 local landowners and trying to win over the community, donating to the 4-H Club and a mental health center.
Now it made its case to the zoning board, which will send a recommendation to the county council who will make a final appeal on whether Apex can continue. If completed, the turbines, each 610 feet tall, would traverse 34,000 acres of farmland.
The $500 million project is expected to generate 300 megawatts, enough to power about 100,000 homes. Renewable, carbon-free electricity would help power a grid that is currently powered by a mix of nuclear, natural gas, coal and some existing wind turbines.
But with more and more renewable energy projects being built across the country, resistance is growing, especially in rural communities across the Great Plains and Midwest.
"To meet any kind of clean energy goals that bring consumer benefits and energy independence, you're going to see an increase in projects," said JC Sandberg, acting chief executive of the American Clean Power Association. And with these increases in projects, we face more of these challenges."
In the fight against climate change, national objectives come up against local resistance. A county has scheduled 19 nights of meetings to discuss a wind farm.
MONTICELLO, Illinois - Land values depressed. Sparkling shadows. Falling ice. One by one, a real estate appraiser rattled off what he said were the deleterious effects of wind farms as a crowd in a central Illinois farming community clung to his every word.
"It's painful," said Kayla Gallagher, a nearby cattle rancher who opposes the plan. "Nobody wants to be here."
In the fight against global warming, the federal government is injecting a record $370 billion in clean energy, President Biden wants the country's electricity to be 100% carbon-free by 2035, and many states and utilities plan to increase wind and solar power.
But while policymakers can set lofty goals, America's power grid is actually determined in town halls, county courthouses, and community buildings across the country.
The only way to achieve Mr. Biden's ambitious goals is if rural communities, which have large swaths of land needed for commercial wind and solar farms, can be persuaded to adopt projects renewable energy. Many of them.
According to an analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the United States would need to build more than 6,000 projects like Monticello to operate the economy on solar, wind, nuclear or other clean forms of energy.
In Piatt County, home to 16,000 people, the The project at issue is Goose Creek Wind, which was proposed by Apex Clean Energy, a Virginia-based wind and solar farm developer. Apex has spent years negotiating leases with 151 local landowners and trying to win over the community, donating to the 4-H Club and a mental health center.
Now it made its case to the zoning board, which will send a recommendation to the county council who will make a final appeal on whether Apex can continue. If completed, the turbines, each 610 feet tall, would traverse 34,000 acres of farmland.
The $500 million project is expected to generate 300 megawatts, enough to power about 100,000 homes. Renewable, carbon-free electricity would help power a grid that is currently powered by a mix of nuclear, natural gas, coal and some existing wind turbines.
But with more and more renewable energy projects being built across the country, resistance is growing, especially in rural communities across the Great Plains and Midwest.
"To meet any kind of clean energy goals that bring consumer benefits and energy independence, you're going to see an increase in projects," said JC Sandberg, acting chief executive of the American Clean Power Association. And with these increases in projects, we face more of these challenges."
What's Your Reaction?
![Three of ID's top PR executives quit ad firm Powerhouse [EXCLUSIVE]](https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/ID-PR-Logo.jpg?#){kind=logo}
