Journal
ENERGY RESEARCH & SOCIAL SCIENCE
Volume 43, Issue -, Pages 144-157Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2018.05.017
Keywords
Energy transition; Politics; Perceptions; Energy policy
Categories
Funding
- Indiana University's Office of Sustainability Research Development Grant
- Indiana University's Office for the Vice Provost for Research through the IU Collaborative Research Grant
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The literature on energy transitions tends to focus on forces operating within entire sectors or across multiple sectors, and usually at the national or international-level. This focus can disguise the fact that transitions often have uneven geographic effects, and specifically adverse consequences for some frontline communities. In this article, we examine how U.S. communities have fared during the current transition toward lower carbon sources of energy. We analyze data compiled from interviews and surveys with stakeholders working in three locations: Detroit, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; and Appalachian coal country. We find that a majority of stakeholders perceive evidence of the energy transition in their communities and are concerned about their community's ability to adapt. Our results, however, suggest heterogeneity among perceptions across the study sites. Stakeholders in Appalachia are most concerned about local job loss and employment availability, with more severe implications for younger and older generations, while those in Detroit and St. Louis express more concerns about the rising cost of energy and the implications for low-income residents. We also find that these stakeholder perceptions do not substantially change after recent political shifts at the federal level but sub-national activism and collaboration has increased.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available