Free Market Ideology and Public Views of Federal Regulation of Unconventional Oil and Gas Production

• In Event: 103 - Regular Session. Environmental Sociology 2

Abstract

Unconventional oil and gas extraction (UOGE) has spurred an unprecedented boom in on-shore, domestic oil and gas production. Social scientists have responded by conducting a number of survey-based studies that examine general perceptions of UOGE. Yet, a void exists where policy-related research should be, especially since the boom in UOGE in the U.S. can be attributed in part to the industry’s exemptions from comprehensive federal environmental regulations. To address this gap, this paper examines public perceptions of federal regulatory exemptions of the UOGE industry. We utilize recent survey data from two communities in northern Colorado, collected as part of a National Institutes of Health study on UOGE and impacts to quality of life, to examine influences on public support or disapproval of federal regulations governing the UOGE industry. We utilize a neo-Polanyian framework to add richness and to ask: Are we seeing the mobilization of a ‘triple movement,’ wherein social movement groups in civil society actively support self-regulating markets, deregulation, and other neoliberalized approaches to political-economic governance? We find that, across all model specifications, free market ideology increases public support for federal regulatory exemptions for the UOGE industry. Interestingly, though, we also find that perceived negative impacts do not necessarily drive people to support increased federal regulation. Instead, we find that free market ideology appears to moderate people’s views of regulation by increasing the effect of perceived negative impacts on levels of support for deregulation. We conclude with a nuanced theoretical discussion of these innovative and important findings.

Authors

• Stephanie Ann Malin, Colorado State University

• Adam Mayer, Colorado State University

• Kelly Shreeve, Colorado State University

• Shawn K. Olson-Hazboun, Utah State University