Dancing with the Blue Devil: Citizen Accounts of Seeking Relief from Industry for Energy Crime in Colorado

• In Event: State and Corporate Environmental Crime Victimization

Abstract

Abstract: Green and critical criminologists have begun to document energy-related harms and crimes; however, citizens’ direct experiences resolving problematic or abusive practices with industry is less common. This paper addresses externalities associated with the oil and natural gas industry regarding a range of harms caused by private industry (e.g. water pollution, adverse human health consequences, and domestic livestock death) and details citizen experiences with industry officials to resolve energy-related problems occurring on or near their property. In this paper, we draw on content analysis of formal complaints filed by citizens to the state, ethnographic work, and intensive interviews with citizens who filed complaints seeking relief from problematic or abusive industry practices. Our analysis illuminates how industry denies, dilutes, and deflects the externalities caused by energy crimes and harms.

Authors

• Tara O'Connor Shelley, Colorado State University

• Tara Opsal, Colorado State University