Variation in beliefs about ‘fracking’ between the UK and US

Abstract

In decision-making on the politically-contentious issue of unconventional gas development, the UK Government and European Commission are attempting to learn from the US experience. Although economic, environmental, and health impacts and regulatory contexts have been compared cross-nationally, public perceptions and their antecedents have not. We conducted similar online panel surveys of national samples of UK and US residents simultaneously in September 2014 to compare public perceptions and beliefs affecting such perceptions. The US sample was more likely to associate positive impacts with development (i.e. production of clean energy, cheap energy, and advancing national energy security). The UK sample was more likely to associate negative impacts (i.e. water contamination, higher carbon emissions, and earthquakes). Multivariate analyses reveal divergence cross-nationally in the relationship between beliefs about impacts and support/ opposition-especially for beliefs about energy security. People who associated shale gas development with increased energy security in the UK were over three times more likely to support development than people in the US with this same belief. We conclude with implications for policy and communication, discussing communication approaches that could be successful cross-nationally and policy foci to which the UK might need to afford more attention in its continually evolving regulatory environment.

Household Water Security: An Analysis of Water Affect in the Context of Hydraulic Fracturing in West Virginia, Appalachia

“…As in other studies on critical water resources geography [18,38,40,80], we grounded our analysis on a case study approach aimed at in-depth analysis rather than statistical generalizability or correlation (cf. see [81,82]). This qualitative approach was apt to achieve our aim to explore the phenomenon of affective water security in its situated context in WV, analyzing the social, political and material structures shaping space and place.…”

The Role of Institutional Trust in Industry, Government, and Regulators in Shaping Perceptions of Risk Associated with Hydraulic Fracturing in the United Kingdom

“…And, nearly 40.5 percent all UK residents agree or strongly agree they are 'concerned about the risks of earthquakes from shale gas fracking.' Building on the role of risks and benefits Evensen et al (2017) suggests that in the UK, public acceptance of shale gas development using hydraulic fracking is not only influenced by its benefits, but also by its risks that include increased seismic activity (see also de Groot, et al 2020). When it comes to predicting the risks of hydraulic fracturing, trust appears to be important.…”

Effect of linguistic framing and information provision on attitudes towards induced seismicity and seismicity regulation

“…From a public perception standpoint, however, this does not necessarily matter. The UK is not California nor British Columbia in terms of shale gas perceptions 11 , 12 . There are many reasons perceptions could differ, not least the ‘anchoring and adjustment heuristic’, which explains that once an initial plausible value for something is established, that creates a heavy psychological anchor than can only be dragged to a new location in cases of substantial motivation to seek a new value 13 .…”