Oil refinery in SE Texas

Just Energy Transitions

Sloan Foundation Just Energy Transitions Project

Professor of Law Uma Outka and CCSC Director Ward Lyles are part of a multi-university team investigating local and state efforts to promote a just transition to green energy. Often, the ability to access clean energy (like electric vehicles or solar panels on a roof) depends on wealth, leaving behind those who most need reduced utility bills and cleaner air. States and local governments are innovating in myriad ways.

With funding from the Sloan Foundation, Outka and Lyles have partnered with colleagues at Barry University, the University of Richmond, Penn State, and the University of Minnesota. The team collaborated to study community-engaged, place-based policy for US energy transitions with a focus on subnational energy policies. A core aim has been to characterize policy designs reflective of the place-based needs for just transitions and synthesize best practices for energy transition policies based on a comparative case study (Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania) approach and a comprehensive review of energy transition process.

Project Accomplishments

Kansas Energy Transition Atlas

We have built a GIS-powered atlas that gathers wind energy regulations for all 105 counties in an interactive site that local governments, developers, and anyone interested in wind energy can use. The Kansas Energy Transition Atlas is an interactive, online site that allows people to find wind regulations in one place, learn more about wind policy in their neighboring counties, build their own maps and find detailed information including wind turbine blade length, how many transmission lines are in each county and much more.

Just Energy Transitions

Fayola Jacobs, Elise Harrington, and Ward Lyles co-edited this peer-reviewed journal article bringing together voices from across the globe on perspectives of what a just energy transition entails. Read their article, "Just Energy Transitions," in Planning Theory & Practice.

Abstract. Planners, policy makers, activists, corporations, and other parties must ensure that transitions away from fossil fuel dependence are not only environmentally sound but also socially just. Socially unjust disparities may impact communities that have long borne myriad burdens of our energy system, as well as those facing the impacts of shifting away from incumbent industries and processes. As places worldwide grapple with the challenges of climate change, equity, and sustainability, we sought to use this Interface Issue to bring together innovative ideas and insights that can inform and shape more equitable and just energy futures.

Kansas Advocacy Positions on a Just Energy Transition

Uma Outka, Ward Lyles, and Liz Collins (KU Master’s of Urban Planning alumnus) conducted interviews with a broad swath of advocates in Kansas promoting a just energy transitions. This white paper, "Advocacy Perspectives on Just Energy Transitions," summarizes the findings of this project.

Media Coverage