Anderson & Johnson: The Politics of a Just Energy Transition
In The Spatial and Scalar Politics of a Just Energy Transition in Illinois, Shannon Anderson and McKenzie Johnson (both Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) evaluate the political environment surrounding Illinois’s 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), which established clean energy mandates with an emphasis on social equity.
Opposition to CEJA increased following its passage and throughout its implementation. By employing a mixed-methodology approach including interviews with decision-makers and key stakeholders, reviewing policy and legislative documents, and performing a spatial analysis of wind development in Illinois, Anderson and Johnson explore this increasing opposition. The article summarizes how various factors—wider opposition to renewable energy movements in rural areas, the shift of decision-making from local to state level, and the casting of renewable energy as a partisan issue—have contributed to a perception across many rural communities that renewable energy initiatives primarily benefit urban areas.
The CEJA, in contrast, is promoted as a model legislation that seeks a more “just” transition to renewable energy with an emphasis on distributing the benefits of its programs to historically underprivileged and low-income communities in urban centers. Anderson and Johnson observe how rural communities, tasked with bearing the burden of hosting the renewable energy infrastructure, often feel excluded from this calculation. In response, many rural communities adopted restrictive zoning policies unfavorable to renewable energy. The CEJA then shifted legislative decision-making upward to the state level. This upward shift removed the perception of choice from local governments. The upward shift in policy making and the lack of benefit received in rural communities facing decline exacerbates the urban-rural divide.
Anderson and Johnson suggest three significant takeaways. First, they warn policymakers against utilizing a narrow conception of “justice” and encourage them to consider geographic inequities. Second, the authors posit that a more peaceful and just transition could be made towards renewable energy if policies were set locally rather than at state or federal levels. Finally, they encourage further research into how best to manage the trade-offs required by renewable energy legislation and the potential distributive conflicts.
