Public Opinion on Renewable Energy: The Nexus of Climate, Politics, and Economy

Increased use of renewable energy sources in the generation of electricity is a crucial component of transitioning to a less polluting energy system in the United States. Technologies like solar photovoltaic cells and wind turbines are being deployed at a rapid rate around the country, which means that an increasing portion of the public is becoming aware of renewable energy systems. The construction of these new industrial facilities has resulted in a variety of public reactions, positive and negative. Citizen opposition has been widely observed toward a variety of renewable energy facilities, and citizen groups can influence policy-making at the national, state, and local levels. Further research is needed to understand under what circumstances the public may take oppositional stances. To examine this topic, I analyze public perceptions of renewable energy using three different datasets. First, I used data from a survey conducted in 2014 in five communities in Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho experiencing renewable energy development(n=906). This dataset allowed me to untangle what factors help explain both individual as well as community-level variation in support for renewable energy. Second, I employed nationally representative survey data (n=13, 322)collected from 2008 to 2015 to examine the influence of a number of factors hypothesized to shape individuals’ level of support for renewable energy policies including socio-demographic characteristics, political beliefs, belief in anthropogenic climate change, and nearby extractive industry activities. Last, I analyzed discourse about renewable energy in sixty-one semi-structured interviews with individuals representing various community sectors in three energy-producing rural communities in Utah. My research findings, on a whole, suggest that several place-based factors are significant in shaping public opinion about renewable energy, including community experience with renewable energy and local economic reliance on extractive industries. I also find pervasive climate skepticism across study sites. These findings indicate the need for broad-based and non-partisan discursive frames for renewable energy. Last, these findings speak to the importance of the ‘just transitions’ concepts, and the need to incorporate those communities most marginalized by the current system of fossil fuels extraction and production as society moves forward toward a cleaner energy economy

Public views on renewable energy in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States: Distinct attitudes, exposure, and other key predictors of wind energy

Renewable energy is often framed by policymakers and the media as an environmental or ‘green’ issue motivated by global climate change and the need for greenhouse gas reductions. However, some researchers studying social responses to renewables have found that factors other than opinions about climate change may be more influential in determining support for renewables. This study analyzes survey data from a study of five communities in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S. experiencing wind energy development to examine the relationship between environmental beliefs, climate change opinions, and support for renewable energy. Results show that views on renewable energy comprise a distinct dimension of public views on energy, environment, and climate, suggesting that public support for renewable energy is less related to environmental beliefs than to some other factors, including beliefs about economic benefits and concerns about landscape impacts. Findings also indicate that the frequency with which individuals see nearby wind turbines are strongly related to their level of support for renewable energy, while physical proximity is not. Overall, results suggest that ceasing to frame renewable energy as an environmental issue and instead framing it in a way that invokes locally relevant social values may garner broader public support

Free Market Ideology and Deregulation in Colorado\u27s Oil Fields: Evidence for Triple Movement Activism?

Unconventional oil and gas extraction(UOGE) has spurred an unprecedented boom in on-shore production in the U.S.Despite a surge in related research, a void exists regarding policy-related inquiries.To address this gap, we examine support of federal regulatory exemptions for UOGE using survey data collected in 2015 from two northern Colorado communities as part of a National Institutes of Health study.We assert that current regulatory exemptions for UOGE can be understood as components of broader societal processes of neoliberalization. We test whether free market ideologies relate to people’s regulatory views and find that free market ideology increases public support for federal regulatory exemptions for UOGE.We find that perceived negative impacts do not necessarily drive people to support increased federal regulation. Utilizing neo-Polanyian theory, we tested for an interaction between free market ideology and perceived negative impacts(Block and Somers 2014; Author 2015).Interestingly, free market ideology appears to moderate people’s views of regulation.Free market ideology seems to increase the effect of perceived negative impacts while simultaneously increasing support for deregulation.We conclude with a nuanced theoretical discussion to analyze how free market ideology might normalize the impacts of UOGE activity

Companies blocked from using West Coast ports to export fossil fuels keep seeking workarounds

Article published in The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/companies-blocked-from-using-west-coast-ports-to-export-fossil-fuels-keep-seeking-workarounds-10630