The band called "The Vandals" states it is hard core punk.

Today is a great day for your small renewable power start-up. You started with a passion for clean technology, concern for the environment, and an idea. That idea became a business plan and in turn an artist's rendering. You located a prime property, found the best materials, and now your financing has come through. Your idea is a real business.

You want to shout it from the rooftops: tell your friends, tell your family, tell your other investors, vendors, and utility partners. But, what about the guy next door? The guy who will watch your contractors (and all their trucks) arrive and begin to dig, pour concrete, erect a monopole, raise the blades and set your turbine spinning. The guy who is concerned about what your pole will mean to his home's value, the quiet tranquility of his morning walks, the light that he gets in his favorite reading chair, and a host of other things: after all, he has never been neighbor to a wind turbine before.

Nah...you'll wait on telling him. Well, there is your first mistake.


Early Identification is the Foundation of Your Community Engagement Strategy

What have you got to gain by holding off on telling your new "neighbor?" Too often, project developers make the mistake of waiting for the time to be "right" before engaging project opponents. More on engagement is coming in tomorrow's installment, but early identification is critical to how you begin and manage the whole community process.

You have to know who is out there. Finding that out might tip your hand, but the fact is that you are not going to sneak your project by anyone anyway. Trying to keep the lid on for too long can be just as costly as taking it off to soon, because it creates mistrust and creates an atmosphere of conflict.

De Facto Opponents

The goal of your community engagement process will be to turn potential opponents into allies. Nonetheless, while it is pretty easy to guess at who might be opposed, you have to do the work. Going into any permitting or other post-conception phase of your project without having as much information as you can get on "where the bodies are buried" would be foolish and will be cos

- Start with public records and determine who lives nearby. Do they own the property? If not, who does? Also, it may seem obvious to some, but make sure you know the local political players. Whose district are you about to dig up? Are the abutters his most loyal supporters? Are they on the state party committee? Are they voters at all? All of that data is available in the public record.

- Next, take some time to reconnoiter local boards, committees, municipal bodies and other stakeholders. Who is on the conservation commission in town? Are there any particularly active or well-connected civic groups or business associations? How has the town responded to development proposals in the past?

Armed with this info, you can begin to formulate a communications and engagement strategy. One size does not fit all, so you need to have the whole lay of the land.

Broaden the Discussion

Too often, project proponents are focused on the downside of community engagement, don't forget the flip side.

- Who will build your project? Labor is often among the most well-organized and influential groups in community and political debate at the community level. We will touch on how you can leverage their support on Wednesday in our section on "third voice integration."

- Along the same lines, look for partners among burgeoning grassroots green groups. Across the country, climate action groups are making themselves and their key issue (climate change) more relevant in local political discourse.

[...] the article continues on: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2009/09/powering-past-nimby-

By Joe Walsh. Read more

The handbook of public affairs
By Phil Harris, Craig S. Fleisher

1. Voter Rationality in Space: The Paradox of NIMBY Voting on Jessica’s Law
2. Examining the Issues Behind NIMBY Positions Society: For seven years, UCI assistant professor has studied opposition
3. Local Leader Fights NIMBY
4. NIMBY Then and Now: Land-Use Conflict in Worcester, Massachusetts, 1876–1900
5. NIMBY localism and national inequitable exclusion alliances: The case of syringe exchange programs in the United States
6. Wind power and the NIMBY-myth: institutional capacity and the limited institutional capacity and the limited significance of public support
7. Absentees, Libertarians and NIMBY

Source: http://www.suboxonemilwaukee.com/no-more-nimby/

As the financial crisis continues to take its toll on the global economy, another serious challenge looms large: preventing the planet from warming more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Policymakers are now faced with the daunting task of stimulating growth without using carbon-intensive practices and stabilizing the climate without dampening economic recovery. If the financial crisis has shown that the future is unpredictable and that the nations and people of the world are interconnected in ways we do not always perceive, the climate challenge reinforces these lessons and suggests the need for timely, global coordination. View Larger

In advance of the 15th annual Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen this December, world leaders will convene at a number of high-level forums in the hopes of building consensus around key elements of a post-2012 climate change agreement. These forums include the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh and an all-day dialogue with the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on September 22 in advance of the General Assembly meeting. World Bank President Robert Zoellick will bring together finance and development ministers in October emphasizing that climate change is not only an environmental issue, but also one that affects economic and financial stability. With the need to get policies right in short order, Brookings experts and colleagues from the public and private sectors offer a range of recommendations for policymakers to forge sustainable climate change solutions that revitalize the global economy and alleviate the adverse effects of a changing climate on the world’s poor.

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"NIMBY wars and citizen engagement are here to stay. Politics, rational and irrational, often dramatically impact local land use decisions. This book outlines the strategies and details the tactics that are used by opponents and proponents of projects. Illustrated with examples and real life situations, the book offers the opportunity to plan ahead and gain support for good projects before they are overtaken by fear mongering and opponents." --Maureen McAvey, Executive Vice President, Urban Land Institute

NIMBY WARS perfectly captures the aura and flavor of the highly charged zoning public hearing. This analysis of the politics, the theater, the motivations and the strategies for zoning matters is spot on. Opposition to development has become so pervasive, that a primer on the subject is valuable even to the most seasoned and experienced land use practitioner. NIMBYism will never go away. In this book, we now have a road map for dealing with it. --Steve Elrod, Partner, Holland and Knight: Chairman, National Land Use Team

The old ways may have been good enough before, but they don t work now. Set aside conventional wisdom and embrace land use politics the compelling approach these gifted consultants detail in this clearly written guidebook will give you the skill set you need to be a victor in land use battles. --Attorney, Dwight Merriam, Author of the Complete Guide to Zoning

NIMBY Wars: The Politics of Land Use (Hardcover) by P. Michael Saint P. Michael Saint (Author) Robert J. Flavell (Author), Patrick F. Fox Patrick F. Fox (Author)

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