Spatializing energy justice

This paper introduces the concept of spatializing energy justice and inequality to understandings of energy poverty and vulnerability.…

Americans’ Support for Climate Justice

Collaborating with climate justice practitioners, the authors conducted a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults (n = 1011) to measure and explore predictors of Americans’ climate justice beliefs and intentions to engage in related behaviors. They find that only about one-third of Americans have heard of climate justice, but about half of Americans support climate justice goals once they are explained. Support for climate justice is predicted by many factors, including views about global warming, perceptions of climate and racial injustice, cultural worldviews, and demographics including racial identity, gender, and political party/ideology. The study suggests a need to build public …

Halfway Up the Ladder: Developer Practices and Perspectives on Community Engagement for Utility-Scale Renewable Energy in the United States

Community engagement is a key pathway for incorporating social considerations into the development of utility-scale renewable energy facilities. Prior literature recommends meaningful, early community engagement to both improve siting outcomes and empower the public to participate in decision-making, but there is no recent nor comprehensive understanding of industry experiences with engagement. This study provides a critical contribution by revealing the practices and perspectives of project developers. They draw upon a survey of 123 professionals employed at 62 unique companies across the United States. They demonstrate that developers are highly concerned about the impact of community opposition on project deployment, and …

Affordable Housing and Energy Resilience in Lynn, Massachusetts

Community land trusts and community microgrids present an opportunity for low- and moderate income (LMI) communities in Lynn, Massachusetts to take ownership of their neighborhood, provide affordable housing, and create family and community wealth through home ownership. Community land trusts and microgrids advance equitable affordable housing approaches through organizational missions grounded in racial/ethnic and economic justice, sustainable development, community control, and intergenerational equity (see ES-Table 1). This Applied Economics Clinic report makes recommendations for policymakers in Massachusetts to assist in creating strategies for affordable housing creation and preservation and reduction of energy costs. Lynn needs strategies to address its growing …

Distributional Equity in the Employment and Wage Impacts of Energy Transitions

The authors use restricted-access, geocoded data on the near-universe of workers in 23 U.S. states to quantify the impact of wind energy development on local earnings and employment, by race, ethnicity, sex, and educational attainment. They find significant impacts that persist for several years beyond the project construction phase. The estimates are larger than those from previous studies, but still small relative to typical economic multipliers for fiscal spending or investment in other industries. The authors find the largest percentage increases for black workers and workers who either do not have a high school diploma, or who have a college …

Environmental Justice Views on Hydrogen

This EFI Foundation (EFIF) factbook highlights the perspectives of environmental justice (EJ) organizations. It reflects feedback gathered through two surveys—one targeting members of EJ communities, among others, (EJ members) and a follow-up survey focusing solely on EJ organizations (EJ groups)—as well as public letters of EJ organizations’ perspectives on hydrogen.

The factbook data show that while environmental justice groups generally support green hydrogenc in specific applications, such as in hard-to-abate sectors, concerns remain regarding hydrogen’s potential to prolong our dependence on fossil fuels, cause explosions, and create local air pollution problems. These groups also lack faith in the community benefits …

Wind Energy Community Benefits Guide

Wind energy development can provide a variety of benefits to the communities where energy projects are located and beyond, with benefits coming in many forms— such as tax revenues, supply chain and manufacturing activities, and job creation. This guide focuses on community benefit agreements (CBAs) and related funds and investments that serve as voluntary mechanisms that developers may utilize to provide additional financial and/or nonfinancial benefits for communities impacted by wind energy projects.

While CBAs and related mechanisms have been utilized for several decades in the U.S. and
internationally, the topic of community benefits is continuously evolving as wind energy …

Working Together for an Inclusive Energy Transformation

Read this resource for a summary of Our Energy Policy’s event on Working Together for an Inclusive Energy Transformation from November 6th, 2023, discussing a just clean energy transition.…

Increasing the Reach of Low-Income Energy Programs Through Behaviorally-Informed Peer Referral

Subsidized energy assistance programs are a popular policy tool for promoting energy justice, but, like other social benefits programs, are often undersubscribed. To improve uptake, some programs have turned to social influence strategies, such as asking program participants to refer their peers. Here, through a field experiment with California’s low-income solar program (N =7,676), we show that referral behavior depends on how existing participants are approached. Adding behavioral science strategies to a referral reward increases peer referral rates, referral quality, and ultimately solar adoption. Compared to only reminding existing adopters of a potential US$200 reward for referrals that result in …

Partnering to Reduce Energy Burden: A Michigan Community Solar and Weatherization Pilot

The Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) prepared this case study to describe how Michigan’s energy office collaborated with local community action agencies and utilities to develop three separate community solar pilots aimed at reducing the energy burden of low-income Michiganders. Residents that participated in the pilots enrolled in community solar programs and received free weatherization services. This case study illustrates how the program partners developed each pilot, what they learned, and what advice they would give to those developing future programs.

This case study was developed as part of the CESA’s Solar with Justice: Connecting States and Communities project. The …