Green tea: clean-energy conservatism as a countermovement

Abstract

Environmental politics in advanced industrialized countries have been characterized as a dynamic interaction of two opposing movements: an original movement of progressive environmentalism and a countermovement of conservative opposition to environmental and energy-transition policies. This study analyzes an additional dynamic based on the emergence of cleanenergy conservatism in the United States. We develop an explanation of the emergence of this additional dynamic and examine the reasons conservatives give for supporting clean energy, the variety of their frames, differences from comparison organizations and policy outcomes. Clean-energy conservatism has emerged, in part, as a dissenting response to the alignment of conservatism with support for fossil fuels. Although clean-energy conservatives seek to redefine clean energy policy according to conservative ideology, they differ from comparison conservative organizations over climate change and air quality. Cleanenergy conservatives can claim some policy victories, but because they work in broad coalitions with environmentalists and others, it is difficult to assess their influence. The case of clean-energy conservatism is used to develop the theory of environmentalism and social movements by deepening the conceptualization of 'counter-countermovements,' and we also suggest the general value of considering the varieties of conservatism in future environmental sociology research.

Public Preferences in a Shifting Energy Future: Comparing Public Views of Eight Energy Sources in North America’s Pacific Northwest

“…In general, renewable energy has been found to be less divisive along partisan lines than fossil fuels, though this can be context-dependent [78]. In fact, renewable energy facilities have received strong support in politically conservative places [52,72,[79][80][81] and tepid and/or hostile receptions in politically liberal areas, even from self-identified environmentalists [82,83].…”

Differentiated grassroots: Navigating sustainability transitions in conservative political contexts

“…Although incentivised as part of the IOU's load management programme, SPV homeowners' empowerment to become electricity generators in their own right was delimited by not only their self-moderation against excess electricity generation in a political environment unsupportive of distributed energy (see Gagnon et al, 2016;Power, 2011;SEIA, 2018) but also the operational restrictions set forth by the IOU. Whereas the former can be attributed to the homeowners' wilful compliance given their conservative preference for deference to private markets instead of government rules and mandates (Hess and Brown, 2017), the latter represents the institutionalisation of IOU's incumbent control orchestrated through the interconnection agreement and rendered materially obdurate through the UEDS. As such, in addition to being conflictual, as described earlier, the interaction between the SPV homeowners and the IOU was mutually beneficial and hence strategic, reducing the former's summer electricity bills and helping the latter satisfy regulatory requirements.…”

Political Activism and Research Ethics

“…Examples include conservative and progressive activists partnering to change environmental and criminal justice policy. 58 Given academia's lack of political diversity, such cross-partisan activism could benefit researchers by helping them escape their ideological silos and come in contact with different political perspectives.…”