One Oregon activist uses decades-old liberal policy to stall green energy projects in rural areas

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Oregon Public Broadcasting .

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During the outcry against nuclear power in the 1970s, liberal Oregon lawmakers hatched a plan to slow an industry that was just getting started. They created a burdensome process that gave the public increased say over where power plants could be built, and the leading anti-nuclear activists of the day used appeal after appeal to delay proposed nuclear plants to death. It had a huge impact: Oregon’s first commercial nuclear plant, the one that spurred lawmakers into action, was also the state’s last.

What those lawmakers