A Call for Clarity and a Review of the Empirical Evidence: Comment on Felman and Turner's 'Why Not NIMBY?'

摘要

This response contributes to Feldman and Turner's interesting discussion in two ways: firstly, it provides some clarity on the definition of the term 'NIMBY'; and, secondly, it incorporates some of the actual empirical evidence of why people support and oppose renewable energy. Feldman and Turner's paper is a welcome and valuable addition to the discussions on this topic. Support and opposition to renewable energy developments— particularly wind farms—has received extensive attention from across the social sciences. From the mid-1990s onwards, protests accompanying the development of wind farms attracted increasing interest. This early work tended to problematise opposition and sought ways to explain and overcome it.