More Wind & Solar Projects Spiked. US Rejections/Restrictions Hit 791, Global Total Now At 91

The backlash against "green" energy is raging. Losses are piling up here and abroad.

Opponents of a proposed wind project in County Limerick have been staging regular protests for a year. Credit: Brendan Gleeson/Limerick Leader

For over 15 years, I’ve tracked the backlash against solar and wind energy projects. Lately, the rejections and restrictions have been piling up so quickly that it has been difficult to keep track of them all.

Over the past month, wind projects in Shasta County, California, and Knox County, Nebraska, have been dealt deadly blows. In Carroll County, Arkansas, local officials enacted a moratorium on the development of solar and wind projects. In Michigan, state officials vetoed a solar project backed by the German firm RWE after a widespread backlash. That “green” energy project was going to require clear-cutting 420 acres of forest land near the town of Gaylord.

The global opposition to wind and solar energy also continues to grow. In early February, I introduced the Global Renewable Rejection Database. At that time, the global database had 72 rejections. Today, that figure is 91. And those numbers don’t represent the full extent of the rural anger toward Big Wind, Big Solar, and Big Batteries. On March 16, Nick Rabbitts of the Limerick Leader published an article about the first anniversary of “regular protests in Adare over plans for a wind farm in Coolcappa.” Rabbitts explained:

The Coolcappa Community Action Group are concerned about the proposals from Ballynisky Wind Energy to construct six turbines with an overall height of 158 meters [518 feet] near the village. Since March 2024, members of the group in the west Limerick village have staged regular demonstrations in Adare village on the main N21 road. Not only is this because the developer’s offices are in the village, they also want to capture the attention of the thousands of passing motorists each day.

Here's a brief update on the worldwide opposition to renewable energy projects, with links to the rejection databases and four updated charts.