Department of Sociology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
School of Public Policy, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
Risk Anal. 2018 Sep;38(9):1871-1890. doi: 10.1111/risa.12989. Epub 2018 Apr 10.
With the rapid growth of unconventional oil and natural gas development transforming the U.S. economic and physical landscape, social scientists have increasingly explored the spatial dynamics of public support for this issue-that is, whether people closer to unconventional oil and gas development are more supportive or more opposed. While theoretical frameworks like construal-level theory and the "Not in My Backyard" (or NIMBY) moniker provide insight into these spatial dynamics, case studies in specific locations experiencing energy development reveal substantial variation in community responses. Larger-scale studies exploring the link between proximity and support have been hampered by data quality and availability. We draw on a unique data set that includes geo-coded data from national surveys (nine waves; n = 19,098) and high-resolution well location data to explore the relationship between proximity and both familiarity with and support for hydraulic fracturing. We use two different measures of proximity-respondent distance to the nearest well and the density of wells within a certain radius of the respondent's location. We find that both types of proximity to new development are linked to more familiarity with hydraulic fracturing, even after controlling for various individual and contextual factors, but only distance-based proximity is linked to more support for the practice. When significant, these relationships are similar to or exceed the effects of race, income, gender, and age. We discuss the implications of these findings for effective risk communication as well as the importance of incorporating spatial analysis into public opinion research on perceptions of energy development.
随着非常规石油和天然气开发的迅速发展改变了美国的经济和物理面貌，社会科学家越来越多地探索了公众对这一问题的支持的空间动态，即是否接近非常规石油和天然气开发的人更支持或更反对。虽然构念水平理论和“不在我后院”（或 NIMBY）这个名称等理论框架提供了对这些空间动态的深入了解，但在具体经历能源开发的地点进行的案例研究揭示了社区反应的巨大差异。探索接近度和支持之间联系的更大规模研究受到数据质量和可用性的限制。我们利用了一个独特的数据集，其中包括来自全国调查的地理编码数据（九轮；n=19098）和高分辨率的井位数据，以探讨接近度与水力压裂的熟悉程度和支持程度之间的关系。我们使用了两种不同的接近度衡量标准——受访者到最近的井的距离和受访者所在地附近一定半径内的井的密度。我们发现，接近新开发项目的这两种类型都与对水力压裂的熟悉程度有关，即使在控制了各种个人和背景因素之后，但只有基于距离的接近度与对该实践的更多支持有关。在具有重要意义的情况下，这些关系与种族、收入、性别和年龄的影响相似或超过这些关系。我们讨论了这些发现对有效风险沟通的意义，以及将空间分析纳入对能源开发看法的公众意见研究的重要性。
