When it comes to policy, perception matters as much as… well, it matters more than anything. Recent work by Daphne Condon, UC Davis PhD student, and a team she led (including us!) assessed how energy experts across the US perceive the impacts of large-scale solar and wind installations on biodiversity, in comparison to other land use/cover types. Despite the promise of ever larger installations–some miles wide and miles deep–impacts are still perceived to be overall less than agriculture, urban areas, forestry, and fossil fuel extraction.
Practitioners’ perceived risks to biodiversity from renewable energy expansion through 2050 [open access]
Condon, D., Scott, T.A., Smith, A.B., Morelli, T.L., Ashraf, U., Mojica, A., Chittanuru, H., Luu, R., Bear, R., and Hernandez, R.R. 2025. Humanities and Social Sciences Communication 12:263.
