Untangling solar red tape

America is getting more of its energy from renewables than ever before, but we’re still tapping only a fraction of our potential. Part of the problem: unnecessarily cumbersome local permitting processes that are slowing the adoption of residential rooftop solar and driving up costs. In two reports released this spring in conjunction with partners in Texas and Illinois, we reported on conversations with local solar installers, who told us about the problems they face in overcoming solar red tape. We also highlighted a possible solution: instant online permitting. The Illinois report was the subject of a feature in the Chicago Tribune and also received coverage in PV Magazine USA and WGN radio.

The environmental impacts of the AI revolution

The explosion in artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and big data analytics is leading to growing impacts on the environment and communities, according to our report Big Data Centers, Big Problems, released with Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund in January. The report found that skyrocketing energy use for data centers is already leading utilities to delay the retirement of fossil fuel power plants – putting both air quality and the climate at risk. Meanwhile, data centers are straining the grid, driving up costs for consumers, and disrupting communities located near the facilities. The report received coverage in more than 100 media outlets, including Grist, Inside Climate News, Clean Technica and Canary Media.

Elsewhere on the Frontier Group site

Policy Associate Nilou Yaar explained how state and local action could be enough to enable continued progress on climate change, even without federal leadership, and Tony Dutzik examined how rooftop solar could be the hero the nation needs to keep renewables on the rise. Elsewhere, Tony reviewed Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s book Abundance; his review was mentioned in Politico’s California newsletter. Tony was also quoted in The Guardian and featured on Deutsche Welle television discussing findings of our 2024 report on deep-sea mining and critical minerals. Quentin Good looked at how renewed interest in uranium mining in the West threatens waterways and wildlife, creating risks ranging from water pollution and radioactive dust to accidents during transport, and Frontier Group intern Isabella Acosta-Jimenez took stock of the environmental implications of oil and gas drilling on public lands.