[PDF] Determinants Of Public Opinion On Renewable Energy eBook

Author : Maria A. Stefanovich Petrova
Publisher :
Page : 560 pages
File Size : 15,99 MB
Release : 2011
Category : Ocean wave power
ISBN :

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Renewable energy resources, such as wind, solar, and wave, have a number of advantages compared to traditional fossil fuels. Numerous studies attest to the physical potential for wave energy development in Oregon. In transitioning from conventional fossil fuel to alternative energy provision, citizen understanding of the global energy problems and their causes and solutions is believed to be the key for the development of renewable energy. Using a statewide mail survey of 1,200 Oregonians this dissertation provides some insight and understanding about the determinants of public opinion with regards to renewable energy, the role these determinants play in public opinion formulation, and their relative importance in citizen support of or opposition toward wave energy development in Oregon. Citizen environmental values and value orientations, ideology preferences, climate change awareness and energy policy beliefs, familiarity with the technology, energy knowledge, and sociodemographic characteristics are examined. Using multiple regression analyses, the results reveal that several determinants serve as statistically significant predictors of attitudes toward wave energy development. Some of the most important are: familiarity with the technology, agreement with the possibility of increasing energy supplies while protecting the environment, and awareness about rising global temperatures. Some policy and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions for further research are proposed.

Author : Shawn K. Olson-Hazboun
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 13,31 MB
Release : 2017
Category :
ISBN :

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Increased use of renewable energy sources in the generation of electricity isa crucial component of transitioning to a less polluting energy system in the United States. Technologies like solar photovoltaic cells and wind turbines are being deployed at a rapid rate around the country, which means that an increasing portion of the public is becoming aware of renewable energy systems. The construction of these new industrial facilities has resulted in a variety of public reactions, positive and negative. Citizen opposition has been widely observed toward a variety of renewable energy facilities, and citizen groups can influence policy-making at the national, state,and local levels. Further research is needed to understand under what circumstances the public may take oppositional stances. To examine this topic, I analyze public perceptions of renewable energy using three different datasets. First, I used data from a survey conducted in 2014 in five communities in Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho experiencing renewable energy development(n=906). This dataset allowed me to untangle what factors help explain both individual as well as community-level variation in support for renewable energy. Second, I employed nationally representative survey data (n=13, 322)collected from 2008 to 2015 to examine the influence of a number of factors hypothesized to shape individuals' level of support for renewable energy policies including socio-demographic characteristics, political beliefs, belief in anthropogenic climate change, and nearby extractive industry activities. Last, I analyzed discourse about renewable energy in sixty-one semi-structured interviews with individuals representing various community sectors in three energy-producing rural communities in Utah. My research findings, on a whole, suggest that several place-based factors are significant in shaping public opinion about renewable energy, including community experience with renewable energy and local economic reliance on extractive industries. I also find pervasive climate skepticism across study sites. These findings indicate the need for broad-based and non-partisan discursive frames for renewable energy. Last, these findings speak to the importance of the 0́8just transitions' concepts, and the need to incorporate those communities most marginalized by the current system of fossil fuels extraction and production as society moves forward toward a cleaner energy economy.

Author : Michael Aklin
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 345 pages
File Size : 32,36 MB
Release : 2018-03-23
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0262344610

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A comprehensive political analysis of the rapid growth in renewable wind and solar power, mapping an energy transition through theory, case studies, and policy. Wind and solar are the most dynamic components of the global power sector. How did this happen? After the 1973 oil crisis, the limitations of an energy system based on fossil fuels created an urgent need to experiment with alternatives, and some pioneering governments reaped political gains by investing heavily in alternative energy such as wind or solar power. Public policy enabled growth over time, and economies of scale brought down costs dramatically. In this book, Michaël Aklin and Johannes Urpelainen offer a comprehensive political analysis of the rapid growth in renewable wind and solar power, mapping an energy transition through theory, case studies, and policy analysis. Aklin and Urpelainen argue that, because the fossil fuel energy system and political support for it are so entrenched, only an external shock—an abrupt rise in oil prices, or a nuclear power accident, for example—allows renewable energy to grow. They analyze the key factors that enable renewable energy to withstand political backlash, andt they draw on this analyisis to explain and predict the development of renewable energy in different countries over time. They examine the pioneering efforts in the United States, Germany, and Denmark after the 1973 oil crisis and other shocks; explain why the United States surrendered its leadership role in renewable energy; and trace the recent rapid growth of modern renewables in electricity generation, describing, among other things, the return of wind and solar to the United States. Finally, they apply the lessons of their analysis to contemporary energy policy issues.

Author : Christopher E. Moorman
Publisher : JHU Press
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 38,45 MB
Release : 2019-09-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 1421432730

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Brings together disparate conversations about wildlife conservation and renewable energy, suggesting ways these two critical fields can work hand in hand. Renewable energy is often termed simply "green energy," but its effects on wildlife and other forms of biodiversity can be quite complex. While capturing renewable resources like wind, solar, and energy from biomass can require more land than fossil fuel production, potentially displacing wildlife habitat, renewable energy infrastructure can also create habitat and promote species health when thoughtfully implemented. The authors of Renewable Energy and Wildlife Conservation argue that in order to achieve a balanced plan for addressing these two crucially important sustainability issues, our actions at the nexus of these fields must be directed by current scientific information related to the ecological effects of renewable energy production. Synthesizing an extensive, rapidly growing base of research and insights from practitioners into a single, comprehensive resource, contributors to this volume • describe processes to generate renewable energy, focusing on the Big Four renewables—wind, bioenergy, solar energy, and hydroelectric power • review the documented effects of renewable energy production on wildlife and wildlife habitats • consider current and future policy directives, suggesting ways industrial-scale renewables production can be developed to minimize harm to wildlife populations • explain recent advances in renewable power technologies • identify urgent research needs at the intersection of renewables and wildlife conservation Relevant to policy makers and industry professionals—many of whom believe renewables are the best path forward as the world seeks to meet its expanding energy needs—and wildlife conservationists—many of whom are alarmed at the rate of renewables-related habitat conversion—this detailed book culminates with a chapter underscoring emerging opportunities in renewable energy ecology. Contributors: Edward B. Arnett, Brian B. Boroski, Regan Dohm, David Drake, Sarah R. Fritts, Rachel Greene, Steven M. Grodsky, Amanda M. Hale, Cris D. Hein, Rebecca R. Hernandez, Jessica A. Homyack, Henriette I. Jager, Nicole M. Korfanta, James A. Martin, Christopher E. Moorman, Clint Otto, Christine A. Ribic, Susan P. Rupp, Jake Verschuyl, Lindsay M. Wickman, T. Bently Wigley, Victoria H. Zero

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 421 pages
File Size : 46,38 MB
Release : 2013-04-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0309264146

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The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.

Author : Ottmar Edenhofer
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 1088 pages
File Size : 42,15 MB
Release : 2011-11-21
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781107607101

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This Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report (IPCC-SRREN) assesses the potential role of renewable energy in the mitigation of climate change. It covers the six most important renewable energy sources - bioenergy, solar, geothermal, hydropower, ocean and wind energy - as well as their integration into present and future energy systems. It considers the environmental and social consequences associated with the deployment of these technologies, and presents strategies to overcome technical as well as non-technical obstacles to their application and diffusion. SRREN brings a broad spectrum of technology-specific experts together with scientists studying energy systems as a whole. Prepared following strict IPCC procedures, it presents an impartial assessment of the current state of knowledge: it is policy relevant but not policy prescriptive. SRREN is an invaluable assessment of the potential role of renewable energy for the mitigation of climate change for policymakers, the private sector, and academic researchers.

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 583 pages
File Size : 20,51 MB
Release : 2017-04-27
Category : Medical
ISBN : 0309452961

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In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Author : Kathleen J. Hancock
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 833 pages
File Size : 16,72 MB
Release : 2020-10-15
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0190861363

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"In many ways, everything we once knew about energy resources and technologies has been impacted by: the longstanding scientific consensus on climate change and related support for renewable energy; the affordability of extraction of unconventional fuels; increasing demand for energy resources by middle- and low-income nations; new regional and global stakeholders; fossil fuel discoveries and emerging renewable technologies; awareness of (trans)local politics; and rising interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the need for energy justice. Research on these and related topics now appears frequently in social science academic journals-in broad-based journals, such as International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, and Review of International Political Economy, as well as those focused specifically on energy (e.g., Energy Research & Social Science and Energy Policy), the environment (Global Environmental Politics), natural resources (Resources Policy), and extractive industries (Extractive Industries and Society). The Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics synthesizes and aggregates this substantively diverse literature to provide insights into, and a foundation for teaching and research on, critical energy issues primarily in the areas of international relations and comparative politics. Its primary goals are to further develop the energy politics scholarship and community, and generate sophisticated new work that will benefit a variety of scholars working on energy issues"--

Author : Torsten Persson
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 503 pages
File Size : 42,52 MB
Release : 2002-01-25
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0262303663

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What determines the size and form of redistributive programs, the extent and type of public goods provision, the burden of taxation across alternative tax bases, the size of government deficits, and the stance of monetary policy during the course of business and electoral cycles? A large and rapidly growing literature in political economics attempts to answer these questions. But so far there is little consensus on the answers and disagreement on the appropriate mode of analysis. Combining the best of three separate traditions—the theory of macroeconomic policy, public choice, and rational choice in political science—Torsten Persson and Guido Tabellini suggest a unified approach to the field. As in modern macroeconomics, individual citizens behave rationally, their preferences over economic outcomes inducing preferences over policy. As in public choice, the delegation of policy decisions to elected representatives may give rise to agency problems between voters and politicians. And, as in rational choice, political institutions shape the procedures for setting policy and electing politicians. The authors outline a common method of analysis, establish several new results, and identify the main outstanding problems.