Pipelines and Power: Psychological Distress, Political Alienation, and the Breakdown of Environmental Justice in Government Agencies’ Public Participation Processes

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorBell, Shannon E.en
dc.contributor.authorHughes, Michaelen
dc.contributor.authorTuttle, Graceen
dc.contributor.authorChisholm, Russellen
dc.contributor.authorGerus, Stephenen
dc.contributor.authorMullins, Danielle R.en
dc.contributor.authorBaller, Cameronen
dc.contributor.authorScarff, Kellyen
dc.contributor.authorSpector, Rachelen
dc.contributor.authorNalamalapu, Denalien
dc.date.accessioned2024-02-05T13:19:00Zen
dc.date.available2024-02-05T13:19:00Zen
dc.date.issued2024-01-25en
dc.description.abstractEnvironmental health research has demonstrated that living near industrial activity is associated with increased stress, depressive symptoms, and feelings of powerlessness. Little is known, however, about the effects of new natural gas pipelines—or the institutional processes dictating their approval and construction—on the mental health of local residents. Through our analysis of a mail survey, an online survey, and a set of semi-structured interviews, we examine how engagement with public participation processes associated with new interstate natural gas pipelines affects mental health. Our results suggest that the public participation opportunities offered by regulatory agencies during the pipeline certification process are primarily performative, and we find that many of the people who have taken part in these performative public input opportunities experience psychological distress, stress-activated physical health effects, and a loss of trust in government institutions. We argue that when people engage in public participation processes that have little or no effect on agency decision-making, it not only disempowers, but can harm those individuals and erode their trust in government institutions. Furthermore, we contend that providing the public with participation opportunities that are merely performative, with little ability to influence decision-making outcomes, is a violation of both procedural and recognition justice, two of the core tenets of environmental justice.en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier103406 (Article number)en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103406en
dc.identifier.issn2214-6296en
dc.identifier.orcidBell, Shannon [0000-0002-7338-3757]en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10919/117856en
dc.identifier.volume109en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherElsevieren
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectNatural gas pipelinesen
dc.subjectPublic participationen
dc.subjectRegulatory agenciesen
dc.subjectEminent domainen
dc.subjectEnvironmental justiceen
dc.subjectMental healthen
dc.titlePipelines and Power: Psychological Distress, Political Alienation, and the Breakdown of Environmental Justice in Government Agencies’ Public Participation Processesen
dc.title.serialEnergy Research & Social Scienceen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.otherArticleen
dcterms.dateAccepted2023-12-27en
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Techen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/All T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Liberal Arts and Human Sciencesen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Liberal Arts and Human Sciences/Sociologyen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Liberal Arts and Human Sciences/CLAHS T&R Facultyen

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Pipelines_and_Power_ERSS_2024.pdf
Size:
2.05 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Published version
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.5 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download

Collections

All Faculty Deposits
Scholarly Works, Mechanical Engineering
Scholarly Works, Sociology