Journal article
Procedural justice in wind facility siting: Recommendations for state-led siting processes
Energy policy, v 65, pp 662-669
01 Feb 2014
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Evidence suggests that state control of wind facility siting decisions fosters new project development more effectively than local control, yet the literature suggests that affected citizens tend to be more fairly represented in local siting processes. We argue that successful renewable energy policy must satisfy both the need for new project development and the obligation to procedural justice. To suggest how it can do so, we analyze existing state- and county-level siting processes in Washington state, finding that both fall short on measures of procedural justice. To overcome this limitation and address the tension between procedural justice and project development, we then propose a collaborative governance approach to wind facility siting, in which state governments retain ultimate authority over permitting decisions but encourage and support local-level deliberations as the primary means of making those decisions. Such an approach, we argue, would be more just, facilitate wind development by addressing community concerns constructively and result in better projects through the input of diverse stakeholders.
•States have made wind energy development a priority.•Local opposition to new projects could hinder future wind energy development.•Procedural justice is necessary to resolve local issues and ensure timely wind facility siting.•Both state- and county-led siting processes fall short with respect to criteria for procedural justice, though local processes have some advantages.•States could instead induce counties, developers to engage in deliberation.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Procedural justice in wind facility siting: Recommendations for state-led siting processes
- Creators
- Gwen Ottinger - University of Washington BothellTimothy J. Hargrave - University of Washington BothellEric Hopson - University of Washington Bothell
- Publication Details
- Energy policy, v 65, pp 662-669
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Politics; Center for Public Policy
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000330813800065
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84890315774
- Other Identifier
- 991021863491904721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Economics
- Energy & Fuels
- Environmental Sciences
- Environmental Studies