Negotiating Constitutional Democracy in Local Energy Conflicts

A general support for renewable energy has been high ever since national polls on that matter have been conducted in North America and Europe. In Germany, with ever-confirming rates of around 90% agreeing to the goals of the Energy Transition or the expansion of renewable energy infrastructure, the very realization of projects on local level does not draw undisputed support. Rather, the opposite shows. Especially when it comes to the deployment of wind power the local opposition is rising and these opposing groups are more and more embedded in and backed by a network of regional or national anti-wind groups. These headwinds can be felt at many information or participation events in preparation of wind power projects. The atmosphere in frequently overcrowded assembly halls is oftentimes tense, sometimes outright hostile. Additionally, with the right-wing populist party AfD (Alternative für Deutschland – Alternative for Germany) entering not all German state parliaments but also acting as the largest opposition party in the Bundestag the formally existing political consensus across all parties about the necessity of a transition towards a low-carbon energy system is a thing of the past. Even more so, the AfD – as many of their right-wing populist companions – is openly denying anthropogenic climate change. In local energy conflicts on zoning and licensing of wind energy infrastructure a plethora of arguments arises: Besides issues of landscape aesthetics, potential health impacts, loss of property value or negative consequences for endangered species, questions of distributional and procedural justice are most important for local residents. But with the rising voice of populist parties in the public discourse a new set of arguments is appearing in the context of local energy conflicts: Calls for more democracy now dressed up as the demand for a stronger recognition of “the will of the people” become louder and questions of the relationship of democratic participation and the compliance with existing law are being negotiated. Taking from empirical examples of both the zoning and licensing procedures the paper seeks to analyse what understandings and expectations of participation, democracy, and rechtsstaat exist among activists against wind energy infrastructure and how close this could bring energy conflicts to populist parties that pose a threat to the energy transition and democracy alike.