The Politics of Coastal Energy
Document Type
Presentation
Date of Original Version
3-27-2026
Abstract
The global energy transition requires large-scale deployment of renewable energy infrastructure, and environmentally sensitive landscapes are governed by regulatory regimes designed to protect ecosystems. This conflict creates competing Environmental Worldviews and Objectives: Ecological Modernization, focused on Climate Mitigation through Renewable Energy Deployment, and Administrative Rationalism, focused on Ecosystem Protection through Environmental Regulation. This study analyzes how coastal environmental regulation affects solar energy siting decisions using a Spatial Regression Discontinuity Design, exploiting the geographic boundary of the Coastal Zone Management Act. The Main Hypothesis is that Coastal Regulation increases development costs and reduces solar deployment within the coastal zone. This study uses microeconomic behavior, environmental externalities, coastal governance institutions, and causal identification to evaluate trade-offs in the economics of renewable energy investment, providing evidence that environmental governance shapes renewable energy siting decisions. Coastal regulation alters the spatial allocation of solar infrastructure and redistributes environmental pressures across landscapes. Understanding these interactions is essential for designing policies that balance ecosystem protection and climate mitigation.
Recommended Citation
Battle, Christopher, "The Politics of Coastal Energy" (2026). Oral Presentations. Paper 33.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gradcon2026-presentations/33