Sociopolitical Dynamics of Extreme Weather Events

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

As the effects of climate change become more pronounced, local governments and communities across the U.S. face increasing pressure to respond, and to mitigate the harms and disruptions associated with wildfires, hurricanes and flooding, including their knock-on effects on public and private infrastructures. However, the harms and disruptions associated with these events are embedded in complex institutional and socioeconomic environments, and these events can trigger their own sociopolitical dynamics. Responses to extreme weather events come in different forms — for example post-disaster relief or efforts to increase the resilience of communities through adaptation in place and relocation efforts — and vary from location to location with different implications for equity. In many communities affected by coastal flooding or wildfires, individual homeowners must make difficult decisions about how to respond. Personal behaviors and policy preferences are shaped by individuals’ personal experiences, how political actors and the media attribute the causes of events, and the distributional impacts and perceived personal benefits associated with different types of responses.

Using targeted surveys of vulnerable and impacted communities, qualitative interviews, and historical data, the papers in this panel illuminate different aspects of the sociopolitical dynamics surrounding extreme weather events, adaptation policy and political behavior. Green uses survey data and interviews to investigate the relationship between power outage experience, political behavior and adaptive choices, focusing on the Texas blackouts of 2021. Andrews, Constantino and Cooperman use experimental data from a targeted survey in areas that had recent or ongoing wildfires to study the relationship between attribution frames, fire proximity, policy preferences and collective action. Kijewski-Correa, Javeline, Kakenmaster, and Chesler survey North Carolina coastal homeowners to understand the motivations and barriers to voluntary investments in property-level adaptation measures. Finally, Mullin examines the local politics surrounding government-sponsored property buyouts, as well as their private and public impacts. Using historical data on federally-backed property acquisitions and qualitative interviews she uncovers the interplay between community composition and electoral dynamics in shaping how communities respond to flood risks.

Sub Unit

• Division 39: Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics

Chair

• Sara Constantino Northeastern University

Discussants

• Hilary Boudet Oregon State University

• Parrish Bergquist Georgetown University

Individual Presentations

• Power Outage Experience and Political and Adaptive Choices - Chelsea Green, Harvard University

• Causes and Consequences: Wildfire Attribution and Political Behavior - Talbot M Andrews, University of Connecticut; Sara Constantino, Northeastern University; Alicia Dailey Cooperman, George Washington University

• Economic Incentives to Adapt to Climate Change - Tracy Kijewski-Correa, University of Notre Dame; Debra Javeline, University of Notre Dame; William Kakenmaster, University of Notre Dame; Angela Chesler, Harvard University

• Local Political Response to Climate Risks: The Case of Property Buyouts - Megan Mullin, University of California, Los Angeles