302 E. MOE ET AL.
Arguably, the most strongly dissenting voice belongs to the far-left
party Red and their leader Bjørnar Moxnes, who echoes the arguments
made by the industry and Manifest Tankesmie by arguing that the battery
argument is greenwashing by the power industry and that the real climate
effort Norway can make is to produce aluminum, silicon, and other
metals and minerals cleaner than any other country. Further, he argues
that the green battery argument is akin to trying to run a Tesla on a
flashlight battery. Building more cables will vacuum the country for electricity and hurt the climate by eroding the competitiveness of Norwegian
energy-intensive industry (Dagbladet 2019a; Filter Nyheter 2019b).
The other prerequisite for the green battery is wind power installations. Here, the short version is that for years, when Norway saw little
wind power installed, every political party was in principle in favor of
wind power. It was however not a serious political priority, and the
support system was poor, until the 2012 introduction of the green certificate system, largely a consequence of the EU renewable energy directive
(e.g., Moe 2014, 2015, 2016). The green certificate system has led to
a significant increase in wind power installations, especially over the final
few years. However, it has brought with it increasing popular opposition against wind power installations, with captions such as “wind power
rebellion” and “wind power opposition” featuring increasingly in national
media.
Following this uptick in popular opposition, Norwegian politicians
have grown considerably more lukewarm towards wind power. PM
Solberg has expressed sympathy with the opposition against turbines,
acknowledging that enjoying nature is central to Norwegians’ daily lives
(VG 2019b). Numerous caveats are expressed by other parties: The Labor
Party wants wind power, provided installations are located in places with
lots of wind, where conservation concerns have been accommodated,
and where there is local support and local financial gain (Arbeiderpartiet 2020; Filter Nyheter 2019a). The Socialist Left Party wants all wind
power license applications halted until there is a comprehensive, national
plan for wind power (NRK 2019a), and the Green Party only supports
wind power installed away from pristine nature (VG 2019a). Several
parties (Center Party, Green Party, Socialist Left, Progress Party, Christian Democratic Party) advocate stronger local veto power, and legally
enshrining the right for the municipalities to reject license applications
(Stortinget 2019; TU 2020; VG 2019c).
Arguably, the most strongly dissenting voice belongs to the far-left
party Red and their leader Bjørnar Moxnes, who echoes the arguments
made by the industry and Manifest Tankesmie by arguing that the battery
argument is greenwashing by the power industry and that the real climate
effort Norway can make is to produce aluminum, silicon, and other
metals and minerals cleaner than any other country. Further, he argues
that the green battery argument is akin to trying to run a Tesla on a
flashlight battery. Building more cables will vacuum the country for electricity and hurt the climate by eroding the competitiveness of Norwegian
energy-intensive industry (Dagbladet 2019a; Filter Nyheter 2019b).
The other prerequisite for the green battery is wind power installations. Here, the short version is that for years, when Norway saw little
wind power installed, every political party was in principle in favor of
wind power. It was however not a serious political priority, and the
support system was poor, until the 2012 introduction of the green certificate system, largely a consequence of the EU renewable energy directive
(e.g., Moe 2014, 2015, 2016). The green certificate system has led to
a significant increase in wind power installations, especially over the final
few years. However, it has brought with it increasing popular opposition against wind power installations, with captions such as “wind power
rebellion” and “wind power opposition” featuring increasingly in national
media.
Following this uptick in popular opposition, Norwegian politicians
have grown considerably more lukewarm towards wind power. PM
Solberg has expressed sympathy with the opposition against turbines,
acknowledging that enjoying nature is central to Norwegians’ daily lives
(VG 2019b). Numerous caveats are expressed by other parties: The Labor
Party wants wind power, provided installations are located in places with
lots of wind, where conservation concerns have been accommodated,
and where there is local support and local financial gain (Arbeiderpartiet 2020; Filter Nyheter 2019a). The Socialist Left Party wants all wind
power license applications halted until there is a comprehensive, national
plan for wind power (NRK 2019a), and the Green Party only supports
wind power installed away from pristine nature (VG 2019a). Several
parties (Center Party, Green Party, Socialist Left, Progress Party, Christian Democratic Party) advocate stronger local veto power, and legally
enshrining the right for the municipalities to reject license applications
(Stortinget 2019; TU 2020; VG 2019c).