URBANA, Ill. — Illinois has made transitioning to clean energy a major priority in recent years with the passage of the Future Energy Jobs Act in 2016 and the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in 2021. Both pieces of legislation prioritize an equitable transition, aiming to avoid and address historical wrongdoings associated with environmental injustice. 

However, a recent study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests the state, in attempting to redress historical wrongs, used an overly narrow lens to define equity in CEJA, which led to perceived injustices for rural, often white communities. The study suggests the state prioritized historically marginalized communities when allocating the benefits (low energy costs) of renewable power, but wasn’t intentional enough in considering the burdens (infrastructure and land use change) that fell to rural communities. This has led to claims of injustice in these communities, especially around wind turbines. 

“There are a lot of ways you can define justice. People understand it very differently depending on their circumstances,” said study author McKenzie Johnson, assistant professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at Illinois. 

The study, co-authored by Johnson’s former master’s student Shannon Anderson, mapped wind development patterns in Illinois, categorized by whether zoning protocols were regressive — trying to stop wind power; progressive — trying to attract it; or neutral — allowing the market to drive zoning decisions around wind.

Read the full release from the College of ACES