Governments who push popular climate policies can be punished at the ballot box by local and vocal minorities

While the majority of the public typically supports environmental policies, if the costs fall on local groups with projects in their backyards, they often resist. In new research that uses Ontario, Canada as a case study, Leah C. Stokes examines how small groups are able to mobilize politically to oppose the location of new wind turbines. She finds that the provincial governing party responsible for introducing wind energy policy lost between 4 and 10 percent of their vote share in areas where turbines were located. She argues that policymakers need to engage citizens more during renewable energy project development to build their support and to minimize potential political barriers.