Permitting the Clean Energy Future

To reach necessary emissions reduction targets, the United States will have to quickly build a vast amount of clean energy infrastructure, from renewable energy generation to long-distance transmission lines and electric grid expansion. Climate advocates often focus on what we need to build, but ambitious procurement targets for wind, solar, and storage are just the beginning. Where and how we build is governed by a multi-layered system of local, state, and federal permits evaluated and issued (or denied) by a number of different agencies. Learn more about these intersecting processes from Rob Wood, Director of Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Land Resources; Sarah Haggerty, Conservation Biologist and GIS Manager at Maine Audubon; and Sean Mahoney, Executive Vice President at Conservation Law Foundation.