Language and environmental justice: articulating intersectionality within energy policy deliberations

Abstract

ABSTRACT The widespread practice of shale gas extraction via high volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) has created challenges for communities who attempt to understand HVHF risk. This study uses a critical discourse lens to understand how intersectionality, and environmental justice language frames might be more clearly established in tools that stakeholders must use to engage in energy policy deliberation. I examine how stakeholders in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York navigate public comment tools in an attempt to understand environmental risk. Using both interview and think aloud protocol, I find that possibilities to voice concern about HVHF risk vary by locality and state. HVHF policy deliberation that does not often include ‘intersectional’ and ‘environmental justice’ frameworks results in an uneven distribution of HVHF risk across and within states. By understanding various discourse frames within policy tools in different states, a more just system of risk identification might emerge.