“We Don’t Take the Pledge”: Environmentality and environmental skepticism at the epicenter of US wind energy development

Jepson, Wendy; Brannstrom, Christian; Persons, Nicole

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2012.02.002

Cited by 90 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(58 reference statements)

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“…But wind might also be just another type of energy income. Wind, according to one landowner, was "strictly money," echoing findings reported elsewhere [34].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 69%

“…Landholders offer many answers-except specific ones regarding actual investments-when approached on the topic of royalties. Previous work has suggested the existence of a particular moral economy in which wind power keeps farms and ranches in families, while landowners remain environmentally skeptical [33,34]. "Pay my notes (farm debt)" was the response of a cotton farmer in Roscoe when asked what he did with his wind-power royalties.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…130, 163). It is unclear how broadly these assertions, if accurate, apply to current landowners, because as one landowner told us, "you do not gripe about the money that is coming in from oil wells, and you shouldn't be concerned about money coming in from the wind farms" ( [34]; p. 859). It is also unknown whether a form of energy payment that is held in contempt, as Greene [25] suggested, is any different from wind royalties, which are viewed positively, in terms of consumption, savings, or investment.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the county level, property tax abatements and a "wind welcomer" posture by public officials and landowners attracted wind farm construction to the region [33,34]. Many political elites view tax abatements as essential to attracting firms to establish wind farms, although some officials are skeptical of the long-term benefits on public finances and infrastructure, suggesting an impending "day of reckoning" ( [33]; p. 847).…”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial Distribution of Estimated Wind-Power Royalties in West Texas

Brannstrom¹,

Tilton²,

Klein³

et al. 2015

Land

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Wind-power development in the U.S. occurs primarily on private land, producing royalties for landowners through private contracts with wind-farm operators. Texas, the U.S. leader in wind-power production with well-documented support for wind power, has virtually all of its ~12 GW of wind capacity sited on private lands. Determining the spatial distribution of royalty payments from wind energy is a crucial first step to understanding how renewable power may alter land-based livelihoods of some landowners, and, as a result, possibly encourage land-use changes. We located ~1700 wind turbines (~2.7 GW) on 241 landholdings in Nolan and Taylor counties, Texas, a major wind-development region. We estimated total royalties to be ~$11.5 million per year, with mean annual royalty received per landowner per year of $47,879 but with significant differences among quintiles and between two sub-regions. Unequal distribution of royalties results from land-tenure patterns established before wind-power development because of a "property advantage," defined as the pre-existing land-tenure patterns that benefit the fraction of rural landowners who receive wind turbines. A "royalty paradox" describes the observation that royalties flow to a small fraction of landowners even though support for wind power exceeds 70 percent.

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“…But wind might also be just another type of energy income. Wind, according to one landowner, was "strictly money," echoing findings reported elsewhere [34].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Spatial Distribution of Estimated Wind-Power Royalties in West Texas

Brannstrom¹,

Tilton²,

Klein³

et al. 2015

Land

Self Cite

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“…In one of the first studies aimed at analyzing environmentality in energy landscapes Jepson et al [13] identified a "reflexive environmental skepticism" in Sweetwater, Texas, the epicenter of US wind energy. Once again, stakeholders did not overturn their subjectivities even as renewable energy became a pillar of the local economy.…”

Section: Arnoldo Lima and Fabiano Tonimentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Landscapes and Environmentality: Boundaries between Discourses and Practices in Energy Governance

Lima¹,

Toni²

2017

IJESD

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Abstract-Energy resources are critical to the development of mankind. Different forms of energy governance can promote innovative environmental subjectivities, but eventually become the stage of constructed rationalities that legitimate the predatory use of natural resources. Thus, the concept of environmentality is used as a theoretical frame to analyze how discourses are used to legitimate the pace, use, and forms of energy production. Primary data were collected in two energy landscapes: Gaucho Biodiesel Pole in Brazil, and Eagle Ford Shale in the United States. Despite distinctive materiality and different governance structures the results pointed to a common timely environmentalism, based on an empty rhetoric.

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Network governance for large‐scale natural resource conservation and the challenge of capture

Bixler

Wald

Ogden

et al. 2016

Frontiers in Ecol & Environ

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Large‐scale natural resource conservation initiatives are increasingly adopting a network governance framework to respond to the ecological, social, and political challenges of contemporary environmental governance. A network approach offers new modes of management that allow resource managers and others to transcend a single institution, organization, resource, or landscape and engage in conservation that is multi‐species and multi‐jurisdictional. However, there are challenges to network governance in large‐scale conservation efforts, which we address by focusing on how special interests can capture networks and shape the goals, objectives, and outcomes of initiatives. The term “network capture” is used here to describe an array of strategies that direct the processes and outcomes of large‐scale initiatives in ways that advance a group's positions, concerns, or economic interests. We outline how new stakeholders emerge from these management processes, and how the ease of information sharing can blur stakeholder positions and lead to competing knowledge claims. We conclude by reasserting the benefits of network governance while acknowledging the unique challenges that networks present.

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“We Don’t Take the Pledge”: Environmentality and environmental skepticism at the epicenter of US wind energy development

Cited by 90 publications

References 59 publications

Spatial Distribution of Estimated Wind-Power Royalties in West Texas

Spatial Distribution of Estimated Wind-Power Royalties in West Texas

Energy Landscapes and Environmentality: Boundaries between Discourses and Practices in Energy Governance

Network governance for large‐scale natural resource conservation and the challenge of capture

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