The Impact of Auditory and Visual Experience with Wind Turbines on Support for Wind Production and Proximity-Based Opposition

ABSTRACT

Community acceptance is a key factor contributing to the outcome of wind power deployment efforts. This study considers the views of an experientially informed subset of the public: individuals living in select Washington and California counties that have active wind farms. We divide respondents into two groups based on a qualitative measure of their proximity—those who can see or hear turbines from their homes and those who cannot—and empirically examine the effect that exposure has on the support expressed for wind farms at different proposed locations. We find that negative perceptions of aesthetics and fear of property value reductions are major determinants of opposition. However, all else equal, those currently living near turbines are more sympathetic toward them, feeling that turbines are more attractive and less disturbing than those who live farther away. We propose four possible explanations for this phenomenon: familiarity, rationalization, desensitization, and economics.

KEYWORDS:

• Community support
• NIMBY
• renewable energy
• wind farms