Every year, the West plunges deeper into a new climate reality. The wildfires that started Jan. 7 and swept Southern California, taking at least 25 lives, are a resounding reminder of the compounding impacts of changing atmospheric conditions.
One of the fastest ways to stop the climate crisis is to burn fewer fossil fuels, replacing them with renewable sources like wind and solar. Though renewable energy poses fewer long-term health risks than oil and gas, the energy transition, with its dozens of new developments, will inevitably change local industries and the environment. As green energy projects proliferate in the West, some communities are pushing back against the speed of development and seeking more information before they offer their support.
Katherine Hoff, a research fellow at the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, has spent the past three years studying how communities participate in conversations about what to build and where to build it. She has published several reports that shed light on potential legal solutions that allow for more public participation, with a focus on historically marginalized groups. High Country News sat down with Hoff to learn more about these solutions.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
High Country News: How do you think about local opposition to green energy development at this stage of the energy transition?
Katherine Hoff: I think what you’re seeing now is a reflection of decades of disregarding, overlooking and violating community and tribal voices in development, whether it be highways, whether it be energy infrastructure, whether it be industrial infrastructure.
Rather than thinking of it as opposition, I think it’s helpful to think of it as community and tribal voices wanting input — wanting to collaborate on these projects (and) make sure that if they’re going to be affected by these projects, that these projects can also benefit them in some way.
HCN: It sounds like a lot of the same groups who fight the impacts of fossil fuels are now advocating for more of a voice in renewable energy development.
KH: For example, T.H.E. Impact Project (a coalition of community groups and environmental justice advocates), is working in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and they are really concerned that a new terminal is being built for offshore wind development, for assembling and storing the wind turbines.
There’s a tremendous amount of goods moving through that port, and that represents a lot of truck pollution. The port has been talking more with community groups, but historically, that has not been the case, and some of the surrounding communities have some of the worst air quality in the L.A. region.
This coalition is really concerned that the new terminal not reiterate some of the costs and burdens that have happened in the past.
HCN: You’ve written about community benefits agreements — where developers can commit to local hiring, environmental monitoring or long-term funding in exchange for the impacts of their development — as a potential solution to local opposition. How are these different than simply setting up community funds?
KH: Community benefits agreements are legally binding, enforceable contracts between a developer and a community group or a group of communities, tribal representatives, labor unions, faith groups, etc. This is a binding contract that the developer and the community side will negotiate and then sign, usually with community governance mechanisms that are implemented along the way.
It’s also a way of ensuring that communities have a voice at the table, not only when the project begins, but (also) over the life of the project.
HCN: But these are still rare for renewable energy, right?
KH: The community benefits agreement started in California and has been going strong for a number of years, but hasn’t jumped fully to the renewable energy space yet. I think a lot of folks are still learning how it would work.
HCN: How does it work?
KH: Some people look to the Staples—LA Live agreement in Los Angeles as one of the north stars. That agreement (which was tied to the construction of a sports, retail and residential complex) not only has things like a requirement that 20% of the units built were affordable housing units, but also regular meetings between the developer and community coalition to talk about progress, for the developer to report out on the goals that had committed to.
Another example is the Los Angeles airport agreement, which required quite a bit of community monitoring and made all of those reports public over time, so that not only folks in the coalition, but also community members, could have access to that data, know what was going on and see what the progress was.
HCN: What if a community doesn’t have the time or legal expertise to negotiate this type of contract?
KH: There’s a role for multiple actors. Developers can come in aware of what the tools are and how to implement those tools. Local government can also help suggest and implement those tools or pass community benefits policies that either require or incentivize community benefits in these projects. Or the community could advocate for an advisory council or community benefits fund.
I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all; they are very adaptable to local needs.
HCN: How can local governments help facilitate?
KH: Some local governments have been really responsive and tried to work with community groups. For example, Humboldt County in Northern California is trying to partner with CORE Hub, a community and tribal coalition in that area, and I think that’s the best-case scenario — county officials working closely with community representatives and really trying to collaborate.
The spectrum of public participation is helpful context. At one end, (you have) ignoring community voices or just consulting with the community, and then at the other end, you have collaborating with and deferring to communities about what they actually want.
Tools that can help us move towards the collaborate-and-defer end of the spectrum include three broad categories: community infrastructure (do community members have the time and space to participate?), technical assistance (do they understand the technology?) and legal assistance (do they have the expertise to negotiate a contract?)
You also need durable funding and financing systems. These are all steps that public agencies can take to help move the needle towards equitable energy infrastructure.
HCN: If I’m a developer, why would I sign a community benefits agreement? Won’t that end up making every project cost more?
KH: I would say that’s a valid concern, but I think that if cost is the main concern, engaging in the agreement process with relevant community voices will help speed the project up and decrease litigation costs down the road.
If you think about the Lithium Valley Community Coalition (in California’s Central Valley), they’re thinking about this industry being in the community for the long term. It’s not just five years; it’s maybe 20 or 30 years. To the extent that developers can try and establish a working collaborative partnership, that’s going to lead to the longevity and cost-effectiveness of the project.
HCN: How do you weigh the importance of this dialogue with other challenges for developers?
KH: There are a number of challenges in the clean energy transition, and potentially addressing community needs is one of the easiest, because it involves changing processes and operating procedures rather than building new transmission lines. It is within the control of the actors who are involved in these processes.
HCN: Do you see these conversations between renewable energy developers and communities shifting over time?
KH: It’s up to communities to decide if (contracts) are really a tool that they want to use, and it’s also dependent on whether they have the capacity to engage in them, oversee them and participate in them.
If done well, not only can community benefits create a more equitable transition to this clean energy future that we all want; they can also help projects move more smoothly and more quickly.
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