The July 20 edition

On a recent trip to Orange, Dubbo and Mudgee, we drove past fields full of solar panels, and others stacked with giant wind turbines. As a city slicker, I’m embarrassed to say I had no idea that this was a renewable energy zone, one of 43 touted to host wind and solar farms, hydro projects and batteries. But that’s the thing about the transition to renewable energy: we city folk can be for it without having to live it. That means sometimes failing to appreciate the scale of the infrastructure build – bigger than the post-war Snowy Mountains Scheme – and how it will affect the communities at the heart of the transition. For today’s cover story, James Button visited some of those communities. What he found was, yes, people who are for and against renewables being built in their backyard. But more fundamentally, he discovered anger on both sides at the lack of consultation about how the rollout is proceeding. In some cases, it all seemed a bit of a shemozzle. For the renewables transition to succeed, the communities at its heart have to be on board. There are good ideas being floated within them. As Button concludes, it’s time to start listening more closely to what they have to say – and dealing them in. Editor, Katrina Strickland