Crude Contempt: Examining Local Pushback to Oil and Gas Development in California

Abstract

Investigating voter preferences has been a challenge for those studying the politics of fracking. Recent scholarship has assessed local fracking bans in Texas, Ohio, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. These findings suggest the importance of political ideology and voters' experience. This project continues to develop an understanding of local defiance and “fracking” attitudes, by extending this inquiry to California. Utilizing a novel dataset of over 400 voting precincts across three California counties, we find that political ideology, the presence of nearby spills, and education shape voters support for local bans on fracking.Related ArticlesAsh, John S. 2011. “Radiation or Riots: Risk Perception in Nuclear Power Decision Making and Deliberative Approaches to Resolving Stakeholder Conflict.” Politics & Policy 39 (2): 317‐344. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2010.00237.xFisk, Jonathan M., Charles Davis, and Benjamin Cole. 2017. “‘Who Is at Fault?’ The Media and the Stories of Induced Seismicity.” Politics & Policy 45 (1): 31‐50. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12193Neill, Katharine A., and John C. Morris. 2012. “A Tangled web of Principals and Agents: Examining the Deepwater Horizon oil Spill through a Principal‐Agent Lens.” Politics & Policy 40 (4): 629‐656. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2012.00371.x