Thane Ritchie

Rejecting Renewables: Why Some Communities Fear Solar Plants

As you may have read in the news last month, a tiny town in North Carolina called Woodland rejected new solar panel installation, citing

concerns that it would suck up the sun’s energy.

Unsurprisingly, this particular

claim was ripe for ridicule — after

all, that solar panels harm

photosynthesis is little more than a

conspiracy theory.

But in this particular detail, the larger point — that sustainability may need help toward its path to

ubiquity — was lost in heavy snark.

Though some residents concerns were unfounded, Woodland’s case makes more sense when examined in full.

The proposed solar plant would have been the fourth surrounding the 800-person town, who do

not benefit from the plants at all.

As many small towns in the US and

the world struggle due to urbanization, with jobs dwindling and young people

leaving, Woodland’s main

concern was an understandable

one: that the ghost towns would be

boxed out on all sides by eye-sore

solar farms that did nothing for them.

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