Today, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law's Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative (RELDI) published two new reports. The 6th edition of Opposition to Renewable Energy Facilities in the United States finds that state and local restrictions and organized opposition continue to create significant barriers to renewable energy development across the United States. Since local opposition is often grounded in mis- and dis-information, the Sabin Center has also released Rebutting 38 False Claims About Solar, Wind, Electric Vehicles, and Battery Storage, which counters common misconceptions about renewable energy development.
RELDI's latest edition of the Opposition to Renewable Energy Facilities in the United States report identifies:
- 888 state laws and local ordinances restricting renewable energy development that had been adopted across 48 states as of December 31, 2025. Of these, 865 were adopted at the local level and 23 at the state level.
- 567 renewable energy projects that have faced significant local opposition across 48 states. Approximately 40 percent of these projects have been canceled, although the report notes that cancellations cannot necessarily be attributed solely to local opposition.
- Wind energy is the technology most frequently targeted in state and local restrictions.
“This new data shows that local opposition to renewable energy development is even more widespread and entrenched than previously reported. In every state across the country, renewable energy projects have been blocked or hampered by local opposition” said Romany Webb, Deputy Director of the Sabin Center and lead author of the report. “At a time when energy demand is skyrocketing, we should be making it easier to build renewables, otherwise we’ll be stuck relying on polluting fossil fuels instead of cleaner and cheaper alternatives, like wind and solar. ”
The new report discusses strategies that states are using to streamline renewable energy siting and reduce barriers to responsible development.
RELDI’s report on Rebutting 38 False Claims About Solar, Wind, Electric Vehicles, and Battery Storage builds on a previous 2024 analysis, which looked at 33 common misconceptions about clean energy. The new report updates the rebuttals of those original false claims to reflect the latest data and adds five new claims. The updated report:
- Addresses common false or misleading claims about renewable energy technologies and their impacts.
- Addresses new claims concerning offshore wind and national security, electric vehicle affordability, and battery storage, while incorporating newly published research relevant to the original 33 claims.
Read the reports:
Media Contacts: Tiffany Challe-Campiz ([email protected]); Romany Webb ([email protected])
