‘The system is engineered to do this’: Multilevel Disempowerment and Climate Injustice in Regulating Colorado’s Oil and Gas Development (2024)

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Stacia Ryder

Utah State University

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USA

Stacia.ryder@usu.edu

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Stephanie A Malin

Colorado State University

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USA

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    Stacia Ryder, Stephanie A Malin, ‘The system is engineered to do this’: Multilevel Disempowerment and Climate Injustice in Regulating Colorado’s Oil and Gas Development, Social Problems, 2024;, spae038, https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spae038

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Abstract

Continuing to emit greenhouse gases (GHGs) moves our planet closer to crossing critical tipping points, making ongoing development of fossil fuels an act of climate injustice. Yet, the United States has doubled down on unconventional oil and gas (UOG), becoming the top global producer of hydrocarbons. Significant segments of the public resist UOG drilling, mobilizing to limit or stop production due to intersecting climate, environmental, and public health concerns. However, regulatory conflicts complicate the power of public resistance and problematize the role of the state in facilitating industry. UOG production has rapidly expanded with little capacity for public participation in decision-making. We contend this is a climate injustice—where procedural injustices across levels of governance make it difficult for the public to prevent fossil fuel extraction. We examine these injustices across state legislative, judicial, and executive governance processes in Colorado where residents have actively resisted UOG production. We demonstrate how the public consistently faces procedural inequities and power disadvantages across multiple sites and levels of decision-making, resulting in multilevel disempowerment. In this high-stakes context, our policy ethnography illustrates how these multilevel procedural injustices can facilitate rapid expansion of UOG production, where state-sanctioned activities also constitute broader acts of climate violence and injustice.

climate justice, environmental justice, procedural justice, multilevel disempowerment, state-sanctioned climate justice

© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.

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