Community rights and energy politics in a pro-fracking Appalachian town

Research shows that conservatives support fossil fuel extraction and distrust regulation. Yet scholarship overlooks where environmentalist and conservative interests may align—a question I explore through studying a rural, white, and conservative Pennsylvania community where many leased their land for shale gas drilling (fracking). Landowners endorsed fracking and discredited state regulators and environmentalists. Eventually, however, many became troubled by how their land sovereignty and community "home rule" were eroded by petroleum companies and state zoning preemption laws. Though few rejected fracking outright, most believed their town should be allowed to manage the industry's footprint. Although climate advocates increasingly view local sovereignty as enabling NIMBYism that stymies climate action, communities often experience state-led energy siting policies as a procedural injustice. Regarding fracking, community empowerment would abet climate action by enabling municipal checks on industrial expansion. Environmentalists could forge alliances with rural, conservative towns by supporting greater local democratic decision-making over fracking.

Colin Jerolmack