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 is 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.
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 inquiries into policy outcomes and perceptions. To address this, support for federal regulatory exemptions for UOGE is examined using survey data collected in 2015 from two northern Colorado communities. Current regulatory exemptions for UOGE can be understood as components of broader societal processes of neoliberalization. Free market ideology increases public support for federal regulatory exemptions for UOGE. Perceived negative impacts do not necessarily drive people to support increased federal regulation. Utilizing neo-Polanyian theory, interaction between free market ideology and perceived negative impacts is explored. Free market ideology appears to moderate people’s views of regulation: increasing the effect of perceived negative impacts while simultaneously increasing support for deregulation. To conclude, the ways in which free market ideology might normalize the impacts of UOGE activity are discussed.
Oil and gas extraction, especially via unconventional means like hydraulic fracturing, is hailed as an economic boon by many commentators and political leaders. However, empirical evidence is limited. In this article, we consider the socioeconomic effects (particularly, related to poverty, employment, income, and wages) of unconventional oil and gas extraction using a national data set of U.S. counties. We use a novel between‐ and within‐county random effects modeling strategy to capture both resource curse and boomtown dynamics. Further, we allow the effect of oil and gas development to be conditioned by county rurality. Broadly, our findings suggest that oil and gas development has very complex effects at the county level. Within‐county growth in oil and gas production slightly improves most economic outcomes, but counties that specialize in oil and gas development tend to perform worse than other counties. We find that, in general, the effect of within‐county oil and gas production is not significantly moderated by county rurality.
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