The influence of extractive activities on public support for renewable energy policy

Abstract

Notable spatial variation in public opinion on climate change and energy policy has been demonstrated at various geographic scales (Howe et al., 2015). Understanding the source of this variation is useful for policymakers, energy developers, and utility providers in predicting how different locales may respond to newly proposed policies and energy developments, particularly those encouraging renewable energy. Using nationally representative survey data from 2008 to 2015, we employ hierarchical linear regression to examine variation in public support for renewable energy policy, focusing on how residence in areas with extractive activities may be related to attitudes toward renewable energy policy. We test the influence of several county-level indicators, including oil production, gas production, and economic dependence on the mining sector. We also test for individual factors, including political ideology, belief in anthropogenic climate change, and several sociodemographic variables. Results suggest that individuals living in both mining-dependent counties and counties with natural gas production are somewhat less likely to support renewable energy policies than individuals living outside such places. At the individual level, belief in anthropogenic global warming is the strongest predictor of renewable energy policy support, and liberal political ideology, being more educated, and being female are also positively associated with policy support.