Assessing, monitoring, and addressing boomtown impacts in the US: evaluating an existing public health model

Abstract

Identifying strategies for conducting impact assessment (IA) suited to unconventional fossil fuel (UFF) development, and practical opportunities to apply them, is an important activity given the continued importance of shale and other UFF energy resources. This paper offers a case study of an iterative public health planning process -Mobilizing Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) -that produced a version of integrated IA over a 10-year period in the Bakken region in the US. Through mixed qualitative methods, including focus groups, Ripple Effect Mapping and interviews, this study assessed the applicability of the MAPP process in the UFF development environment. The assessment draws on evaluation frameworks offered in theoretical and applied IA literatures. We found evidence to recommend MAPP as a possible solution to the lack of mandated, formal IA practices in UFF regions in the US based on three benefits: (1) MAPP aligns closely with IA best practices in form and approach; (2) our case study suggests that MAPP creates the for direct linkages between assessment, monitoring, and mitigation that are frequently absent in IA processes; and (3) participants in the process in our study note its utility in helping them negotiate the specific challenges of UFF development.

Planning for the local impacts of coal facility closure: Emerging strategies in the U.S. West

“…Particularly relevant to this case are insights into the importance of social and cultural capitals that facilitate acceptance of change. Support for this argument has been quantified in the community psychology literature (e.g., Kulig, 2008;Norris, 2008), and are echoed in the findings of coal and mine closure transition research conducted internationally (Boutilier, 2017;Kinnear and Ogden, 2014;Morrison-Saunders et al, 2016), as well as other studies, focused on experiences with extractive industries (Haggerty et al, 2018). Most recently, Carley et al (2018)'s study of eastern coal communities aligns with this theory, stating that their interviews demonstrate that "a primary component of …[adaptation] is to embrace the move away from a culture of coal rooted in dependence to one focused on new opportunities…" (138).…”

Clean energy in the European Union: Transition or evolution?

“…Contemporary energy transition studies engage in geographically sensitive questions in resource peripheries, 33 spatial analysis of vulnerability to impacts of 'low-carbon' energy transitions, 34,35 and community-level effects of energy transitions. [35][36][37] Building on these threads of scholarship, this study focuses on how policy, energy supply source and macroeconomic factors influence the negative impact of human activities on the environment. It investigates whether possession of local fossil fuels impacts the energy transition, and it is challenging the hypothesis that the EU member states decoupled their development from energy consumption without negative impact on industry.…”

“…Contemporary energy transition studies engage in geographically sensitive questions in resource peripheries, 33 spatial analysis of vulnerability to impacts of ‘low-carbon’ energy transitions, 34,35 and community-level effects of energy transitions. 35–37…”