General belief in secret plots predicts whether someone will oppose local wind farms months later. At the same time, opposing specific turbine projects can deepen a person’s broad suspicions, creating a cycle that threatens the transition to renewable energy.

A generalized tendency to believe in secret plots can predict whether someone will oppose the construction of a local wind farm months later. Likewise, coming to oppose that local wind farm can deepen a person’s general conspiratorial worldview over time. These mutually reinforcing perspectives can potentially stall the transition to renewable energy sources if community concerns go unaddressed. The research was recently published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.