Power-Lined: Electricity, Landscape, and the American Mind by Daniel L. Wuebben

Abstract

Reviewed by: Power-Lined: Electricity, Landscape, and the American Mind by Daniel L. Wuebben Melissa Bollman Power-Lined: Electricity, Landscape, and the American Mind. By Daniel L. Wuebben. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2019. ix + 231 pp. Illustrations, map, notes, bibliography, index. $45.00, cloth. Focusing on the network of wires that connect energy, place, and culture in the United States, Daniel Wuebben's well-composed meditation on the vinelike web of overhead power lines offers a rich and compelling account of the ambiguities, tensions, and ironies associated with this often-overlooked piece of critical infrastructure. Power-Lined: Electricity, Landscape, and the American Mind is a welcome addition to the energy humanities and social sciences literature with its engaging exploration of the modern imaginaries that inspired the US transmission grid's design as well as the anxieties that accompanied the expansion of overhead lines across the Great Plains and beyond. Drawing on archival sources and personal memories of traversing the power-lined highways of Nebraska, this diverse collection of vignettes illustrates the electricity grid's distinctive imprint on US environments and psyches. As is the case for most large sociotechnical artefacts, the initial reactions to the now-ubiquitous power lines varied considerably among Native Americans and Anglo settlers—some celebrated their arrival as a harbinger of novel opportunities and prosperity, others regarded their presence as an intrusion, a threat to existing livelihoods and lifestyles, or instruments of colonization. While the stakes and terms of debates regarding overhead wires have changed since the early days of electrification, the technology's presence remains a subject of great controversy. Wuebben estimates that approximately one-third of Americans generally oppose the construction of new overground lines and are unlikely to be persuaded by arguments emphasizing the economic, environmental, or security benefits of a more robust grid. Although some have argued that expanding the public's technical knowledge about the grid could counteract some of the disdain for the wires' unsightliness, Wuebben suggests that cultivating a greater appreciation for the cultural, aesthetic, and place-making work performed by the electricity grid could also inspire the creation of more sustainable energyscapes. Though a more thorough discussion of how energy storage and other emerging technologies might impact future grid politics could have made for an even stronger analysis, Power-Lined: Electricity, Landscape, and the American Mind provides a captivating investigation into how energy infrastructure debates reflect contemporary social politics of in/visibility and an ambivalence toward modernity and technological progress in the US. This book should be of interest to anyone seeking to learn more about the relationship between electricity and the transformation of landscapes, both during this current period of energy transition and into the future. Melissa Bollman Graduate School of Geography Clark University Copyright © 2021 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln