Nature Conservation and Opposition to Wind Power in Rural Germany: Divergent Views on (In)Justice and Environmental Crises in the Anthropocene

Abstract

The extension of wind power and the installation of wind turbines in the low-mountain regions of Germany against the background of the national transition to renewable energies is meeting with opposition from some nature conservationists, who perceive a conflict between climate protection and nature conservation. This article illustrates the nature conservationists’ views on questions of (in)justice and the various environmental crises in the Anthropocene. I argue that their opposition to wind power is based on at least three different aspects: commitment to species protection, concern for the aesthetic value of landscapes, and a plea for a degrowth paradigm. In addition, the supposed indifference of the state and national government towards these objectives leads to resentment and is developing a rural consciousness. Methodologically, the article shows that collaborative research in contested settings might have the transformative potential to spin a conversational thread on the urgent question of what is due to whom in the Anthropocene.