Articles by John Farrell
John Farrell is the author of Energy Self-Reliant States and a senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, where he focuses on renewable energy policy.
All Articles
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Supreme Court ruling increases importance of local energy
The vision of a massive nationwide superhighway of high voltage transmission lines may have died last week in the Supreme Court. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Overshadowed by the (terrible) Citizens United ruling, the Supreme Court essentially upheld the right of states to block high voltage transmission wires. At issue was the […]
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Renewables are inevitable, transmission is optional
Editor’s Note: This post was written in response to a comment by Gar Lipow in his post on 10/20. We all agree that a 100 percent renewable energy system is preferable. But we don’t need a new, high-voltage transmission network now to reach that goal, and it’s far from clear that we’ll need it in […]
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A little heresy on transmission
The last thing renewable energy needs right now are new transmission lines. This statement is heresy in the green community, but there’s a danger that the increasing focus of green energy advocates on a new nationwide transmission superhighway may undermine the pursuit of near-term renewable energy goals. People are excited by renewable energy. It’s clean. […]
