If you've installed any renewable energy equipment you might have run into NIMBY. The people who support 'green' energy as long as it's in the middle of nowhere. I've had countless emails about what to do about it, but it seems that the Ontario (Canada) government is doing something about it.

This is a first step and legislation will probably appear in the rest of Canada and move to the United States as well. Although this legislation is aimed more towards big installations the home owner will benefit as well.

The laws will prohibit any group from lobbying against the installations unless there are environmental or safety concerns.

The vast majority of people live in (sub)urban centres. The government has (finally) realized that allowing NIMBY to control where renewable energy gets installed is very detrimental.

The premier of Ontario (Dalton McGuinty) said "We're going to find a way through this new legislation to make it perfectly clear that NIMBYism will no longer prevail when it comes to putting up wind turbines, solar panels and bio-fuel plants".

This is a great first step. By removing the blocks to install renewable energy it means that the people who wanted but couldn't will soon be able to install solar panels or wind generators.

Since this sets a precedent you can talk to your local representative and ask them to put up similar legislation. Since it's been done before there will be fewer hoops that have to be jumped through to get it approved.