The global energy system is changing rapidly. In the United States, the most significant shift has been the move away from coal towards natural gas and renewables. Yet political leaders and some media outlets frame coal as a reliable baseload fuel source while decrying renewables as overly expensive and unreliable, suggesting that the decline of the coal industry may heighten worries about the security of energy services. These concerns may be especially salient in rural areas that have historically relied upon the coal industry for jobs and economic development, where a ‘just transition’ may be needed to soften the impact of rapid sociotechnical shifts away from carbon based energies. Here we use novel data from western Colorado, USA with an embedded survey experiment, finding that the closure of coal mines and coal fired power-plants may increase worries about energy insecurity, in particular concerns about power cuts and interruptions in energy supplies.
Mayer, A., Keith Smith, E., & Rodriguez, J. (2020). Concerned about coal: Security, dependence, and vulnerability among coal dependent communities in western Colorado. Energy Research & Social Science, 70, 101680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101680