Political identity and paradox in oil and gas policy: A study of regulatory exaggeration in Colorado, US

In recent years, the U.S. has undergone a boom in domestic oil and gas production driven by unconventional drilling technologies. Political affiliation is one of the most consequential factors for a range of environmental and technological attitudes but it’s relationship to policy preferences for un...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energy policy 2017-10, Vol.109, p.452-459
Main Author: Mayer, Adam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Boom
Conservatism
Drilling
Energy
Energy policy
Exaggeration
Gas production
Hydraulic fracturing
Mathematical models
Natural gas
Oil
Oil and gas production
Petroleum
Petroleum production
Policies
Policy preferences
Political identity
Politics
Production
Regulation
Regulations
Statistical analysis
Statistical models
Studies
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Summary:In recent years, the U.S. has undergone a boom in domestic oil and gas production driven by unconventional drilling technologies. Political affiliation is one of the most consequential factors for a range of environmental and technological attitudes but it’s relationship to policy preferences for unconventional oil and gas development is less understood. In this manuscript, we consider how political affiliation impacts unconventional oil and gas policy preferences. We develop a novel understanding of “regulatory exaggeration” – we argue that conservative opposition to energy regulations is at least partly a result of a misjudgment of the stringency of current regulations. Statistical models indicate that, while conservatives are opposed to unconventional oil and gas regulations in the abstract, they endorse a range of specific policies more stringent than those currently in place. Further, political conservativism is associated with paradoxically believing that current regulatory environment is too stringent and supporting more stringent, specific policies. •We conducted a survey of Colorado resident’s policy preferences for unconventional oil and gas in late 2014.•Political identity was identified as an important predictor of policy preferences.•Conservatives believe that oil and gas development is over-regulated.•However, conservatives also support a number of regulations more stringent than those currently in place.•Our results suggest that conservatives may exaggerate the current degree of regulation.
ISSN:0301-4215
1873-6777
DOI:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.07.023