West Coast Perceptions of Wave Energy : a Survey of California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia Residents

North America’s West Coast represents some of the highest global potentials for wave energy output. We developed and conducted a survey of a sample of residents (N=2000) in California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia matched on gender, age, race, and education to the general population. Respondents were asked how much they had heard or read about wave energy; what first came to mind when they heard the term; their views of commonly cited risks and benefits; and their overall attitude toward wave energy development. Over half of our respondents had never heard or read about wave energy, and the most common “top of mind” associations indicated little or no knowledge about it. Oregon respondents indicated the highest levels of familiarity. Despite limited familiarity, the results suggest mainly positive attitudes toward wave energy with little variation by state of residence or proximity to the coast. Attitudes varied by gender, race, education and political ideology. In general, respondents who were male, white, college educated and politically liberal held more positive attitudes. Female respondents, in particular, wanted more information. Respondents expressed more agreement with statements about the benefits of wave energy development (e.g., for renewable energy, energy independence, economy/jobs, etc.) than its risks (e.g., to marine life, fishing, recreation, etc.). Risks to marine life, fishing and recreation were of more concern to those who reported visiting the coast at least once a month. Liberal respondents indicated higher levels of agreement with wave energy benefits and lower levels of agreement with its risks. Compared to other energy sources, respondents strongly preferred increasing the use of renewable energy sources like solar, wind and wave energy, as opposed to more traditional energy sources like hydro, geothermal, natural gas, nuclear, and coal

NIMBY, YIMBY, or something else? Geographies of public perceptions of shale gas development in the Marcellus Shale

Much research exists on how social-psychological factors (e.g. political ideology), proximity to development, and contextual factors (e.g. state in which one resides) drive public attitudes toward various types of energy development. Yet, scholars have only recently begun to explore how these factors interact to create unique geographies of perception that defy the simplistic explanations suggested by not-in-my-backyard or yes-in-my-backyard labels. Using precisely geocoded well and survey data, we explore the interplay of political ideology, proximity and place in the context of public attitudes toward unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD) in the Marcellus Shale region of southern New York and northern Pennsylvania. For our full sample and similar to findings from recent national surveys on attitudes toward energy development, we found that respondents closer to UOGD were more supportive of it, a relationship that was moderated by political ideology with liberals or moderates located closer to UOGD more supportive than those located further away. However, when we examined these moderation effects within states, a different story emerged. For New York respondents, proximity did not appear to have a differential effect on conservatives vs. liberals/moderates. However, for Pennsylvania respondents, we observed opposing effects: conservatives were more supportive further away from development, while liberals/moderates were more supportive closer to development. Our results thus both reaffirm and challenge existing scholarship, highlighting the potential for middle range theorizing about geographies of perception in energy development

To Act or Not to Act: Context, Capability, and Community Response to Environmental Risk

Social movement theory has rarely been tested with counterfactual cases, that is, instances in which movements do not emerge. Moreover, contemporary theories about political opportunity and resources often inadequately address the issue of motivation. To address these shortcomings, this article examines 20 communities that are "at risk" for mobilization because they face controversial proposals for large energy infrastructure projects. Movements emerge in only 10 cases, allowing for the identification of factors that drive mobilization or nonmobilization. Utilizing insights from social psychology, the authors contend that community context shapes motivations to oppose or accept a proposal, not objective measures of threat. They conclude that the combination of community context-to understand motivation-and measures of capability is the best way to model movement emergence.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by University of Chicago Press and can be found at: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/index.html.Keywords: Protest, Oil, Participation, Hazardous waste facilities, Micromobilization, Political opportunity, Attitudes, Nimby, Mobilization, Social movement theor

Towards codes of practice for navigating the academic peer review process

Peer review is the bedrock of modern academic research and its lasting contributions to science and society. And yet, reviewers can submit “poor” peer review reports, authors can blatantly ignore referee advice, and editors can contravene and undermine the peer review process itself. In this paper, we, the Editors of Energy Research & Social Science (ER&SS), seek to establish peer review codes of practice for the general energy and social science research community. We include suggestions for three of the most important roles: peer reviewers or referees, editors, and authors. We base our 33 recommendations on a collective 60 years of editorial experience at ER&SS. Our hope is that such codes of practice can enable the academic community to navigate the peer review process more effectively, more meaningfully, and more efficiently

How geographic distance and political ideology interact to influence public perception of unconventional oil / natural gas development

A growing area of research has addressed public perception of unconventional oil and natural gas development via hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”). We extend this research by examining how geographic proximity to such extraction interacts with political ideology to influence issue support. Regression analysis of data from a fall 2013 national telephone survey of United States residents reveals that as respondents’ geographic distance from areas experiencing significant development increases, political ideology becomes more strongly associated with issue support, with the liberal-partisan divide widening. Our findings support construal level theory's central premise: that people use more abstract considerations (like political ideology) the more geographically removed they are from an issue. We discuss implications for studying public opinion of energy development as well as for risk communication

Load Shape Awareness Project

De-identified datasets with replication code for the Load Shape Awareness Projec

Disparities in self-reported extreme weather impacts by race, ethnicity, and income in the United States

Dataset accompanying the article "Disparities in self-reported extreme weather impacts by race, ethnicity, and income in the United States" (Zanocco, Flora & Boudet, 2022)

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

Food Practice Lifestyles: Identification and Implications for Energy Sustainability

Food systems, including production, acquisition, preparation, and consumption, feature importantly in environmental sustainability, energy consumption and climate change. With predicted increases in food and water shortages associated with climate change, food-related lifestyle and behavioral changes are advocated as important mitigation and adaptation measures. Yet, reducing emissions from food systems is predicted to be one of our greatest challenges now and in the future. Traditional theories of environmental behavioral change often assume that individuals make “reasoned choices” that incorporate cost–benefit assessment, moral and normative concerns and affect/symbolic motives, yielding behavioral interventions that are often designed as informational or structural strategies. In contrast, some researchers recommend moving toward an approach that systematically examines the temporal organization of society with an eye toward understanding the patterns of social practices to better understand behaviors and develop more targeted and effective interventions. Our study follows on these recommendations with a study of food consumption “lifestyles” in the United States, using extant time use diary data from a nationally representative sample of Americans (n = 16,100) from 2014 to 2016. We use cluster analysis to identify unique groups based on temporal and locational eating patterns. We find evidence of six respondent clusters with distinct patterns of food consumption based on timing and location of eating, as well as individual and household characteristics. Factors associated with cluster membership include age, employment status, and marital status. We note the close connections between age and behaviors, suggesting that a life course scholarship approach may add valuable insight. Based on our findings, we identify opportunities for promoting sustainable energy use in the context of the transition to renewables, such as targeting energy-shifting and efficiency-improvement interventions based on group membership