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Governor Whitmer says “support has grown” for wind and solar development in Michigan. The data suggest otherwise.
Friday, November 10th, 2023. (Draft Version! More figures to come!) Per the NY Times, a bundle of clean energy bills in Michigan were given final approval in the Senate on Wednesday that would move the state closer to net zero. The bills would require the state to “generate all of its electricity from wind, solar… Read more
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Factors That Drive Resident Support for Planned Rain Gardens in Urban Neighborhoods
Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) promises to improve stormwater management while making landscapes more sustainable. The ability of GSI to achieve water quality objectives and provide socioeconomic cobenefits depends in part on public perceptions and support. This study contributes to the literature on public perceptions of top-down, municipal-scale GSI. We examined variation in public support for… Read more
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Time-use among men and women in Zambia: A comparison of grid, off-grid, and unconnected households
Access to electricity is essential to improving quality of life. The goal of this study is to understand how different types of electricity access affect time use between men and women and identify the everyday activities where electricity may have the greatest impact on women’s quality of life. Using the World Bank’s Multi-Tier Framework (MTF)… Read more
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Michigan residents’ support for renewable energy development appears to have declined (considerably). (new data, 7/14/23)
Most studies examining community acceptance of renewables have been based on cross-sectional rather than longitudinal data (Ellis et al, 2023). Here we pursue the latter by comparing the results of two representative surveys distributed in Michigan, the first, an IPPSR State of the State Survey (SOSS) from Fall 2017 (+/- 3.9% margin of error) (see… Read more
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Place matters! Rural vs. Urban Michigan residents in support of renewables (new data, 7/13/23)
In Michigan (and elsewhere), rural residents, where nearly all large-scale solar and wind development occurs, consistently support renewable development less than do small town, suburban and urban residents, our new data via a 2023 YouGov survey (n = 1000) show. What’s perhaps more telling, when we look at the granular level, at solar and wind… Read more
Doug Bessette, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University
Energy Values Lab 