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CityLab Daily: When Residents Support Solar—Just ‘Not in My Backyard’

Also: Ride-hailing cars are turning into high-tech billboards, and Berlin wants to freeze rents for 5 years.
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Rise and shine: Fawn Lake, a gated community surrounded by sparkling lakes and rolling fields near the historic Civil War battlefields of Spotsylvania, Virginia, has a new neighbor: a solar power plant with 1.8 million panels. And residents nearby aren’t happy about it, with arguments against the solar facility ranging from forest destruction, to fire risks, to damaging Spotsylvania’s historic character.

As the renewable energy market expands, so has the opportunity for “solar NIMBYism.” While the American public increasingly supports green energy, all kinds of communities have their own reasons to say “not in my backyard” to the actual facilities that generate the power. CityLab’s Linda Poon looks at the rationales behind the resistance: When Residents Support Solar—Just ‘Not in My Backyard’