An Oil Boom’s Effect on Quality of Life (QoL): Lessons from Western North Dakota

Fernando, Felix; Cooley, Dennis R.

doi:10.1007/s11482-015-9422-y

Cited by 26 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…A logical conclusion from previous research on public perceptions of shale gas development, which suggests knowledge about impacts leads to support and opposition, is that sharing additional facts about impacts could help shift support and opposition more in line with "reality" (following the common language of information deficit approaches [Stedman et al 2016]). Nevertheless, consistent with other recent findings (Evensen 2017, Fernando and Cooley 2016b, Kroepsch 2016, Williams et al 2017, our research cautions that providing the public with additional information about impacts will do little to shape attitudes towards or beliefs about shale gas development. Rather, our findings further support the results and recommendations that emerged from the National Research Council (2014) workshops on shale gas development.…”

Section: Implications For Communicationsupporting

confidence: 87%

Beliefs about impacts matter little for attitudes on shale gas development

Evensen

Stedman

2017

Energy Policy

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 Previous work suggests attitudes toward 'fracking' are based on specific beliefs  Our research suggests attitudes may instead lead to beliefs about development  This finding challenges social-psychological assumptions about attitude objects  Communication on impacts of 'fracking' may do little to affect support/opposition  Policy should focus on issues beyond the immediate impacts of development 2 Abstract Do facts lead to positive/negative views about energy development or vice versa? The answer matters crucially for policy and communicationif perceptions of what is true (beliefs) precede feelings (attitudes), additional information could shape views on an energy technology; yet, if attitudes precede beliefs, the usefulness of communication, either for influencing beliefs or simply making the public more informed, is far less clear. A long history of social-psychological research asserts that individuals' beliefs predict their attitudes on environmental issues. Nevertheless, other theories intimate the reverseattitudes shape beliefs, specifically on newly emergent, controversial topics. We investigated whether attitudes (i.e., support and opposition) about the contentious issue of shale gas development stem from or lead to beliefs about development. We collected data from random-sample surveysof residents in the Marcellus Shale region and of a national US sample. Factor analyses and structural equation modelling lead us to question the dominant assumption that beliefs precede attitudesthe reverse, or a recursive relationship, appears more likely. Broad values and place attachment precede attitude formation more reliably than beliefs about impacts dosuggesting need for a larger focus in energy policy on core values and the ways in which development could foster or compromise these values.

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Section: Implications For Communicationsupporting

confidence: 87%

Beliefs about impacts matter little for attitudes on shale gas development

Evensen

Stedman

2017

Energy Policy

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“…Though this early scholarship was critiqued for its ad hoc arguments and methodological limitations (Wilkinson et al 1982(Wilkinson et al , 1984, it helped lay the groundwork for more sophisticated research, still largely rural in focus. Extractive booms have been connected to increased crime (Archbold, Dahle, and Jordan 2014;Komarek 2016;Ruddell et al 2014), strain on infrastructure (Goodman et al 2016;Graham et al 2015;Rahm, Fields, and Farmer 2015), and more general quality-of-life impacts (Fernando and Cooley 2015)-all of which could reduce the economic vitality of a community. Still, boomtown development typically occurs in distinct phases, and some communities can adapt to and recover from the strains and social disruptions of resource booms and busts-even while others do not (Brown, Dorius, and Krannich 2005;Freudenburg 1981;Smith, Krannich, and Hunter 2001).…”

Section: Boomtownsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fracking Fortunes: Economic Well‐being and Oil and Gas Development along the Urban‐Rural Continuum

2017

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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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“…Research shows that community disorganization often occurs during the early stages of a boom before communities have the capacity to adjust to the multitude of changes a boom can bring (Goldenburg, 2008;Hunter, Krannich, & Smith, 2002;Pooley, Cohen & Pike, 2004;Shandro et al, 2011). Fernando and Cooley (2015) found that low trust and unity among community members increased during the oil boom in the Bakken, and this research also suggests that community members can remain less engaged and worried about normlessness even years after the boom onset.…”

Section: Multivariate Findingsmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…For their studies in the Bakken area, Fernando and Cooley (2015, 2016a, 2016b used content analysis of local newspaper opinion articles and online comments, interviews with residents, and observations to explore the impact of the recent boom in western North Dakota. One study (Fernando & Cooley, 2015) focused on how the Bakken oil boom impacted residents' quality of life (QoL) and found that perceptions of QoL were related to whether residents were benefitting financially from the boom and whether they experienced an escalation in their cost of living (housing particularly). Notably, irrespective of benefiting from the boom, long-time residents felt a lack of safety and security, low levels of trust and unity among community members, and a change in the nature of social relationships in the community as a result of the boom.…”

Section: Sociological Research On Energy Boomtownsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While perceptions that safety and security decreased emerged in many studies focused on the broader social impacts of energy development in the Bakken (e.g., Fernando and Cooley, 2015;Fernando & Cooley, 2016b), a study by Archbold (2015) explicitly examined how police in the Bakken region thought crime had changed since the oil boom. Many law enforcement officers described alcohol as being a big factor in the crime they responded to since the oil boom.…”

Section: Crime and Perceptions Of Crime In Oil And Gas Boomtownsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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"You shouldn't worry walking a block and a half to your car": Perceptions of Crime and Community Norms in the Bakken Oil Play

Ulrich‐Schad¹,

Fedder²,

Yingling³

2019

International Journal of Rural Criminology

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The Bakken oil play 2 experienced substantial population growth from oil and gas development over the last decade, resulting in disruption to social norms at the community level. We surveyed residents in a county in Montana and a county in North Dakota about their perceptions of crime resulting from the most recent boom, finding that residents perceived high levels of various types of crimes resulting from the boom and that many also changed their daily behavior out of fear of such crime. In addition, we asked about current perceptions of community norms and find evidence that perceived levels of helping and trust are lower in the boomtown context than in other similar types of rural areas. We also show how these perceptions matter for other important community-level issues; those who perceived high levels of crime were more likely to see energy development as negative and those who saw community norms as weaker and were less involved in community organizations were more likely to plan to leave. A better understanding of how residents perceive social disruption resulting from energy development and the implications of these perceptions can help leaders in rural boomtowns make better decisions related to natural resource development.

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An Oil Boom’s Effect on Quality of Life (QoL): Lessons from Western North Dakota

Cited by 26 publications

References 56 publications

Beliefs about impacts matter little for attitudes on shale gas development

Beliefs about impacts matter little for attitudes on shale gas development

Fracking Fortunes: Economic Well‐being and Oil and Gas Development along the Urban‐Rural Continuum

"You shouldn't worry walking a block and a half to your car": Perceptions of Crime and Community Norms in the Bakken Oil Play

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