'This energy is clean, but here, on the dunes, it would be dirty'

This study was conducted in the town of Galinhos, RN, Brazil, and aimed to analyze the opposition to the implementation of the Rei dos Ventos I wind farm in 2012, taking into account the meanings and attachment to place. Methodologically, an ethnographic approach was carried out, supported by historical-dialectic materialism, with records in diaries and field notes, in addition to 23 interviews with residents. The research found that the relationship with nature conforms a knowledge central to local life, and that the energy transition must come accompanied by a broader social shift.