NIMBYism Is Good If the N Stands for Nuclear
Environmentalists concerned about climate change should be more open to geothermal and advanced nuclear power.
Even better at a smaller scale.
Photographer: JEFF HAYNES/AFPThe liberal college town of Amherst, Massachusetts, is considering a ban on new large-scale solar projects that’s supported by, among other groups, the local chapter of the supposedly radical youth climate movement Sunrise.
It’s the latest in a long list of unfortunate instances in which renewable-energy projects have faced opposition not from coal barons or reactionaries, but from progressive types concerned about the land-use impacts of big new energy projects. The National Audubon Society is trying to stop a wind project near Oakland, California, for example, and local Audubon chapters are frequently in opposition to this or that clean-energy project.