Resource Type: Social Science Research

We are in tough, uncertain, disempowering times right now. And yet we’ve been here (or someplace close) before. Looking back to Lab newsletters from the first year of Trump’s prior term, we wrote about dealing with ‘dark times’ and pushing back to save the EPA from assault. A core point from that advice still holds true: cultivating a sense of empowerment (for ourselves and our supporters) is the candle in the dark that will kindle hope, resistance, and progress. That’s why the opposition is obsessed with snuffing it out through intimidation, posturing power, and wanton disruption. In social science, we refer to empowerment as a constellation of “efficacy” beliefs. This newsletter hasn’t covered efficacy in-depth since the first Trump Administration, though much new research has emerged in recent years, including a number of field research projects we conducted with various partners. In today’s newsletter I’ll cover the latest on what we know about efficacy, along with examples and practical tips for fostering empowerment among supporters.

This Article describes and analyzes the growing local opposition to rural solar energy and ultimately argues for a wave of new state legislation designed to strengthen rural landowners’ rights to develop utility-scale solar projects on their land.