The National Academies Press

Currently Skimming:

Pages 193-240

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.

From page 193... ... 5 Public Engagement to Build a Strong Social Contract for Deep Decarbonization ABSTRACT One of the greatest threats to a successful transition to a net-zero economy is failing to mobilize the participation and support of the people who call the United States home. In every corner of the nation, decarbonization efforts will ask households to buy and use new technologies, businesses, and workers to transform energy systems, and institutions in the public and private sector to collaboratively imagine, plan for, and invest in clean energy futures. Read the entire page →
From page 194... ... many parts of the country, the opposite is occurring: a growing number of people are feeling left out of decisions that are affecting the communities, places, and landscapes where they live and work–decisions that they see as having little to no local benefit. The number of communities placing significant new restrictions on actions required to achieve deep decarbonization is growing rapidly, especially in the deployment of renewable energy (Aidun et al. Read the entire page →
From page 195... ... • People value being consulted no matter what the outcome. When processes are understood to be accessible, transparent, fair, and inclusive, actions to decarbonize the U.S. Read the entire page →
From page 196... ... needed to empower the public to effectively participate in deep decarbonization. The outlier is the objective to "invest in community block grants that support local transition planning, community-based action, and community-benefiting economic and technological change," which was codified in several sections in the IRA (e.g., Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund [§60103] Read the entire page →
From page 197... ... BOX 5-2 Summary of Recommendations to Improve Public Engagement Executive-Level and Congressional Actions: • Convene a federally sponsored national public dialogue to engage all residents in a robust vision for decarbonization (Recommendation 5-1a) Read the entire page →
From page 198... ... • Reform fiscal policy to increase direct local benefits for hosting renewable energy facilities (Recommendation 5-4) Read the entire page →
From page 199... ... STRENGTHENING ENERGY DEMOCRACY THROUGH INCLUSIVE POLICY DIALOGUES The Challenge Energy democracy is the ability of democratic publics to meaningfully participate in governing U.S. energy systems. Read the entire page →
From page 200... ... an online platform through which members of the working group could comment directly on the proposed bill text. The platform received more than 350 comments, which the committee incorporated into the text of H.R. Read the entire page →
From page 201... ... and uncertain regulatory landscape for shale gas developers to navigate (Rabe 2014) Read the entire page →
From page 202... ... consultative or co-design process to capture values, share opportunities and address concerns" with "[t] he voices of youth and Traditional Owners … at the forefront" (Reeves et al. Read the entire page →
From page 203... ... the energy transition (IWG 2023, p. Read the entire page →
From page 204... ... groups. This is done under the principle that enabling public participation means "assessments can be more open, balanced, credible and of higher quality" (Impact Assessment Agency of Canada 2022) Read the entire page →
From page 205... ... states is complex, expensive, technical, and may require representation by an attorney. These costs and barriers are prohibitive for community-based organizations and individuals. Read the entire page →
From page 206... ... COMMUNITY ENERGY, ENERGY SOVEREIGNTY, AND COLLECTIVE BENEFITS The Challenge Extending energy democracy to the participation of individuals in small-scale energy systems and large-scale transition projects is key to the clean energy future. This includes increased opportunities for small groups or communities to own and operate energy processes and to directly benefit from decarbonization actions including through community and tribal energy systems that provide collective benefits. Read the entire page →
From page 207... ... energy service access and climate resilience. For example, the Blue Lake Rancheria, a federally recognized tribal government and Native American community, provides an example of a successful community-led effort to exercise sovereignty and enhance climate resilience through energy systems. Read the entire page →
From page 208... ... Opportunities and Barriers in Current Policy The current policy landscape creates new opportunities to engender public support for energy infrastructure through projects with clear local benefits that outweigh the costs. This could meaningfully comprise the growth of community-scale and energy sovereignty-focused development as well as creative public and collective benefits schemes. Read the entire page →
From page 209... ... costing households (Vogelsong 2022) Read the entire page →
From page 210... ... In a June 2022 National Academies' information-gathering webinar, Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy 14 founder and chief executive officer Cheri Smith (2022a) noted that despite having 2 decades of 74F experience in applying for DOE funding, she and her colleagues still need to hire someone to decipher the agency's FOAs. Read the entire page →
From page 211... ... public revenue comes from property taxes, from which industry advocates frequently succeed in winning relief in terms of incentives offered by state and local governments (Haggerty et al. Read the entire page →
From page 212... ... a) Congress should encourage geothermal, solar, and wind energy development on public lands by establishing priority areas for development, developing associated conservation and mitigation provisions, and providing clarity about the amount and disposition of revenues from geothermal, solar, and wind development. Read the entire page →
From page 213... ... In that context, scholars and practitioners point to key features of effective siting and permitting process that have the potential to reduce conflict and delay: 1. Public engagement in the context of project development requires inclusive, expansive, and immersive communications. Read the entire page →
From page 214... ... poll (not peer-reviewed) found that when biodiversity and land conservation is posed as a trade-off with rapid emissions reductions, a majority of Americans prefer a slower buildout (Meyer 2023) Read the entire page →
From page 215... ... society. An effective public engagement workforce for decarbonization includes public and community engagement professionals from utilities, community-advocacy groups, tribes, clean energy demonstration projects, local, state, and federal agencies, and other relevant organizations and programs. Read the entire page →
From page 216... ... development of a single NEPA document (Diller et al. Read the entire page →
From page 217... ... Findings and Recommendations Capacity is not only a matter of having the personnel and know-how to implement state-of-the-art permitting processes or streamlining permitting for priority initiatives. Thus, enhanced permitting capacity will depend on an effort to integrate research, practice, and policy activities, and to coordinate across scales of government and within and across economic sectors -- for example, the international and nationwide coordination directed to the COVID-19 public health crisis demonstrated the needed urgency and dedication (Patnaik et al. Read the entire page →
From page 218... ... advocacy organizations planning and impact assessment, including health, social, economic, and environmental impacts, with particular attention to the needs of utilities and large-scale energy developers in public engagement expertise. The assessment should also include the public engagement implications of recent amendments to the National Environmental Policy Act with a focus on where workforce investments are most critical. Read the entire page →
From page 219... ... Finding 5-10: While legislative progress on statutes that enshrine "meaningful engagement" into NEPA is stalled, there are opportunities to integrate these approaches as standard practice in private and public sector activities. Working groups and programs can be modeled after the Interagency Working Group on Indigenous Traditional Ecologic Knowledge to support the inclusion of specialized expertise in government policy and guidance. Read the entire page →
From page 220... ... K–12 classrooms and science museums. Few people in the United States have even a rudimentary understanding of energy sources, infrastructures, or security (van den Broek 2019) Read the entire page →
From page 221... ... of market-based technology adoption studies. This will be especially valuable for informing energy transitions because technology adoption studies alone miss broader aspects of technology deployment that can slow decarbonization and lead to a range of risks and adverse social or economic outcomes. Read the entire page →
From page 222... ... • Mobilizing and supporting people and organizations in implementing key decarbonization strategies. The scale of effort required to achieve a net-zero economy is unprecedented -- much of it will require significant organizational, workforce, and even behavioral change from individuals and households to entire industries. Read the entire page →
From page 223... ... interdisciplinary convergence and co-production of knowledge among researchers and diverse knowledge-users in industry, government, and society. To build this expertise, the committee's first report recommended $50 million per year for interdisciplinary doctoral and postdoctoral training programs, similar to those funded by the NIH; $375 million per year to support doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships in energy transitions, with at least 25 fellowships per state; and support for lowering barriers to non-U.S. Read the entire page →
From page 224... ... complexities of energy transitions in the United States. The initial budget for this program should be $25 million annually and grow to $200 million by 2030. Read the entire page →
From page 225... ... material realities of decarbonization and its impacts on their livelihoods and their access to energy services. Although many of the features of recent policy initiatives create opportunities to engage and invest various publics in clean energy futures, there is a persistent mismatch between the scale of the decarbonization endeavor and the resources, capacity, and vision currently dedicated to mobilizing all the people of the United States to achieve deep decarbonization. Read the entire page →
From page 226... ... Overarching Actor(s) Responsible Sector(s) Read the entire page →
From page 227... ... Overarching Actor(s) Responsible Sector(s) Read the entire page →
From page 228... ... https://www.acus.gov/recommendation/managing-mass-computer-generated-and-falsely attributed-comments. Aidun, H., J Read the entire page →
From page 229... ... Microgrid at the Blue Lake Rancheria." CEC-500-2019-011. California Energy Commission. Read the entire page →
From page 230... ... Devine-Wright, P Read the entire page →
From page 231... ... EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) Read the entire page →
From page 232... ... https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/10-03-2022/accelerating-decarbonization-in-the-united states-technology-policy-and-societal-dimensions-local-benefits-compensation-strategies-for deep-decarbonization-infrastructure. Goedkoop, F., and P Read the entire page →
From page 233... ... ICT News. Read the entire page →
From page 234... ... Energy in Europe." Energy Research and Social Science 89(July) Read the entire page →
From page 235... ... Miller, C., L.W. Keeler, J Read the entire page →
From page 236... ... Noble, B.F. Read the entire page →
From page 237... ... Rabe, B.G. Read the entire page →
From page 238... ... Shehabi, A., and M Al-Masri. Read the entire page →
From page 239... ... Szulecki, K Read the entire page →

From page 193...

... 5 Public Engagement to Build a Strong Social Contract for Deep Decarbonization ABSTRACT One of the greatest threats to a successful transition to a net-zero economy is failing to mobilize the participation and support of the people who call the United States home. In every corner of the nation, decarbonization efforts will ask households to buy and use new technologies, businesses, and workers to transform energy systems, and institutions in the public and private sector to collaboratively imagine, plan for, and invest in clean energy futures.