When Coal Was New, Americans Hated It
A lesson for solar energy: People’s objections to a new energy source are often aesthetic
When I first got solar panels on my Brooklyn roof, I set them as far back as possible from the street.
Why? I didn’t want them to be too visible.
I was worried neighbors would think they looked terrible.
As it happens, nobody said anything to me. True, a relative of one of my neighbors, visiting from out of town, declared the panels were a “monstrosity” and said I’d bought into “a scam.” But nobody else objected, at least not to my face.
Statistically speaking, though, I was right worry that people would find them ugly — because the truth is, many do. One of the biggest objections to widespread renewable energy is its aesthetics.
People are fine with renewables in general! As recent surveys find, the majority of Americans want the country to build more solar and more wind.
The problem tends to be when it’s suddenly in their face. They wake up to find an historic house across the street now sports a solar panel, or a big turbine appears on a distant hill. Or maybe a developer builds a big array in a nearby field. They’re happy to have solar and wind somewhere — just not where they…
