“Why are we being punished and they are being rewarded?” views on renewable energy in fossil fuels-based communities of the U.S. west

Abstract

Renewable energy has emerged as one of the predominant means for addressing global climate change, as well as a remedy for energy workers and communities displaced by declining fossil fuels industries. However, little is known about how individuals living and working in fossil fuels-dependent communities perceive renewable energy and the low-carbon transition. To investigate this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with forty-five community representatives in 2016 in two energy-dependent areas in the state of Utah − one dependent on coal mining and electricity generation and one dependent on oil and natural gas extraction. Findings indicate that representatives overall had negative views of renewable energy development, driven mainly by the perceived threat to the existing local economy, the feeling that renewable energy was incongruent with local identity, and anger about policy incentives favoring renewables. These findings suggest that even though renewable energy development may offer an economic boost to declining fossil fuels-based communities, it may still be rejected in these places. The article concludes by weighing the implications of these findings under the ‘just transitions’ framework, which argues that the clean energy transition must address the plight of individuals and communities hit hardest by the shift away from fossil fuels.