Navigating Headwinds in the Green Energy Transition: Explaining Variations in Local-Level Wind Energy Regulations

Promoting economic prosperity, social justice, and ecological sustainability requires the rapid decarbonization of our global energy system in favor of renewable sources of energy. Recent news analysis estimates that 15% of counties across the US have banned wind turbines, solar fields, and other green energy developments. We answer two overarching research questions: (1) How do regulations of wind facilities vary at the county level? And (2) what factors appear to explain the variation in local wind regulations? We created a GIS database of energy regulations for all 105 counties in Kansas, a top state for wind potential and a recent hotbed of local actions. We coupled descriptive statistics, mapping, and regression modeling to describe the variation in local policy approaches and identify factors driving the variation. We find counties using at least five different policy approaches to enable or block wind regulations. Factors driving variation include a combination of infrastructure capacity, demographic characteristics that shape local planning capacity, and the apparent reliance on large farming operations for local economic output but not partisan voting patterns or underlying wind capacity. Our findings provide vital insights for policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as providing a foundation for future scholarship on planning for a just energy future.