Date of Award:

5-2017

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Sociology and Anthropology

Department name when degree awarded

Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology

Committee Chair(s)

Richard Krannich

Committee

Richard Krannich

Committee

Courtney Flint

Committee

Don Albrecht

Committee

Peter Howe

Committee

E. Helen Berry

Committee

Douglas Jackson-Smith

Abstract

This dissertation research examines the factors underlying public opinion toward renewable energy in the United States. U.S. citizens in general support the continued development of renewable energy, yet opposition has been widely observed toward a variety of renewable energy facilities at the local level. Previous research on public responses to renewable energy has focused on one or a small number of communities experiencing renewable energy development. In this research I examine public views more broadly, in communities with and without renewable energy development, and also using nationally representative opinion data. I ask the following questions:

What local experiences influence how members of the public form opinions about renewable energy, especially local experiences with different types of energy production?

How related are environmental beliefs to individuals’ views on renewable energy, specifically the belief that Earth’s climate is warming due to human activities?

To pursue these research questions, I conducted three different research projects. First, I used data from a 2014 survey conducted in five different communities in Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho experiencing renewable energy development. Second, I examined nationally representative public opinion data to determine how individual characteristics – such as political views and belief in anthropogenic climate change – along with county-level extractive industry activities, influence opinions about renewable energy policy. Last, I conducted sixty-one interviews with individuals in three energy-producing rural communities in Utah, discussing their views on renewable energy, energy production, and climate change. This research was funded with combination of support, including a grant from the USDA Utah Agricultural Experiment Station as well as support from the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at Utah State University.

My findings suggest that both individual as well as place-based factors are important in understanding public opinion about renewable energy. Both community experience with renewable energy and local economic reliance on extractive industries have an important role. Environmental concern and belief in human-caused climate change, however, do not seem to be influential. Furthermore, I found that renewable energy (and especially policies supporting it) can be a politically charged topic and are viewed in some fossil fuels communities as a threat to the local economy. These findings indicate the need for broad-based and non-partisan discursive frames for renewable energy. These results also speak to the importance of being attentive to those communities most marginalized by the current system of fossil fuels extraction and production as society moves forward toward a cleaner energy economy.

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