Who is to blame? Nostalgia, Partisanship, and the death of coal

The raced and gendered persistence of human‐exemptionalism

“…Entanglements between local identity and the perception of oil extraction as “integral” to a “traditional” way of life have been observed in areas where the petrochemical industry is prominent (LeQuesne, 2019, p. 195). Despite the loss of economic opportunity within the coal industry (Mayer, 2022), hegemonic masculinity remains fused to coal, so that Appalachian men are dissuaded from advocating against pollution in their communities (Bell & Braun, 2010; Lewin, 2019). On the other hand, women's identities as mothers tasked with providing safe environments for their children provide fertile ground—and a culturally acceptable excuse—for involvement in EJ movements (Bell & Braun, 2010; Larkins, 2018).…”

“…Contemporary threats to hegemonic masculinities, such as feminism and even the uncertainty wrought by climate change, evoke a sort of nostalgia for fossil fuels (Mayer, 2022) and require revisions to petro‐masculine performances. Climate change denial, or the dismissal of the observed phenomenon that large‐scale carbon combustion has altered planetary systems and threatens the survival of many species and ecosystems, is seen as a form of “protective identity cognition” among men, particularly white, whose status and power feels threatened in a world that faces an imperative to move on from fossil fuels and extractive industry (Hultman & Anshelm, 2017, p. 28; MacGregor, 2019; Nelson, 2020).…”