End of the line: environmental justice, energy justice, and opposition to power lines

Abstract

This study draws on environmental and energy justice research to develop the analysis of energy infrastructure opposition from a justice perspective. A comprehensive data set of 70 cases of opposition to socioenvironmental effects of proposed electricity power lines in North America was developed. The analysis of strategic frames used by opposition groups provides the basis for an evaluation of theoretical categories of justice, their empirical operationalization, and their limits. Four categories of justice are associated with eight of the 12 main types of frames. In turn, frames are connected to types of opposition actors in the analysis of sequences of justice-related actions and outcomes. Subnational governments are important actors in many cases that have outcomes of remediation and/or a decision not to build the line. Coalition breadth and opposition from federal government actors, marginalized groups, and environmentalists are also associated with those outcomes.