Nineteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

This paper spotlights the adverse effects of hyper-charged citizenry and efforts to influence local government officials to change existing ordinances and influence policy decisions to accommodate the development of sustainable energy projects that would ultimately lead to better societal resilience. Resilience is the ability to sustain and recover communities and organizations in preparation for, during, and after the disasters stemming from climate and other threats. The same dynamic of the relationship between the local government units and the citizens seeking to influence the policy may be more unique to the United States for the lack of national energy policies and the disintegrated structure of energy markets. Most importantly, such hyper-active negative engagement against sustainable energy act as a counter to the economic and public health benefits of such projects and the process of democratic governance, acting against the societal positive interest and progress. The resilience through sustainable energy development is stifled by the hyper-active citizenry and professional interactions between the local government staff and concerned citizens. However, the general inclusive nature of the process gives rise to a dynamic in the otherwise tricky nature of the development and implementation of the projects. Utilizing a multi-level qualitative perspective of the select media reports on wind and solar projects rejected due to neighborhood or community engagement and opposition, in combination with grounded theory, the paper offers the apprehension of the key factors contributing to the apparent lack of governance in implementing such projects.