More than just jobs: Understanding what drives support for a declining coal industry

• Published in: The extractive industries and society 2022-03, Vol.9, p.101038, Article 101038
• Main Author: Mayer, Adam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coal; Just transition; Survey; United States
• ISSN: 2214-790X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.exis.2021.101038

•Study of western Colorado.•Integrates questions of populism, partisanship and economic development.•The number of coal jobs created does not predict support for the coal industry.•Partisanship is a strong predictor.•Expressive Republican partisans are willing to pay more in energy costs to save coal. The U.S. energy system has changed markedly in the past few decades, with a transition away from coal and towards natural gas and renewables. The implosion of the coal industry brings many environmental and public health benefits. However, several state governments and the administration of former President Trump launched a variety of initiatives to save coal, even if it would increase costs to ratepayers. Here, we integrate diverse strains of research on the cultural politics of coal, nostalgia and populism, partisanship, and energy justice to understand what drives support for cost-increasing policies to rescue coal. Using a survey experiment, we find that support declines as costs increase, there are significant partisan differences, but those differences are highest among expressive partisans. Further, nostalgia is positively associated with support for coal, while the number of jobs that the ratepayer policy would provide has no bearing on support. We conclude by discussing the role of nostalgia and partisanship in economic and energy transitions.