Misplaced Hopes, Dysfunctional Attachments, and Unplanned Energy Transitions: The Role of Clean Coal Discourse in the Cultivation of Energy Communitarianism Along the Ohio River

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dc.contributor.advisorAlbanese, Denise
dc.creatorStafford, Richard Todd
dc.date.accessioned2023-04-10T18:46:36Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractIn the 2000s, the phrase "clean coal" signified technologies that would sustain coal-powered electrical generation through an anticipated period of decarbonization. However, “clean coal" was already a fraught term in Appalachia, signifying both the threat that environmental laws would compromise regional coal industries and the promise that technologies could prevent undesired regional energy transitions. Focusing on the locality around the first US coal plant that sought to capture carbon dioxide at a commercial scale, this dissertation shows how the promise of these technologies helped maintain the hegemony of coal even as the industry contracted. Drawing on interviews, archival research, and systematic content analysis of newspaper coverage, it argues that clean coal discourse promoted a form of energy communitarianism that endured even after the promise of “clean coal” had faded. Clean coal’s sociotechnical imaginary temporarily displaced class antagonisms and environmental conflicts by representing the interests of the nation, the locality, fossil fuel industry employers, and its employees as aligned. Locally, “clean coal” contributed to what Raymond Williams characterized as a “structure of feeling” defined by the sense that there was no alternative to coal. For many locals, it cultivated deeply felt attachments to coal, shaped their sense of history, and constrained their visions of the future. Following Lauren Berlant, this dissertation argues that the sentiments associated with "clean coal" locally proved cruel: as the energy transition began, rather than offering a flourishing life, “clean coal” helped maintain the power of the incumbent fossil fuel industries and discouraged the formation of a political bloc demanding a just transition.
dc.description.embargo2027-08-31
dc.description.noteThis work is embargoed by the author and will not be publicly available until 2027-08-31.
dc.format.extent479 pages
dc.format.mediumdoctoral dissertations
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1920/13270
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsCopyright 2022 Richard Todd Stafford
dc.rights.urihttps://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0
dc.subjectAppalachia
dc.subjectClean coal
dc.subjectClimate justice
dc.subjectDecarbonization
dc.subjectJust transition
dc.subjectScience and technology studies
dc.subject.keywordsEnvironmental studies
dc.subject.keywordsEnergy
dc.subject.keywordsClimate change
dc.titleMisplaced Hopes, Dysfunctional Attachments, and Unplanned Energy Transitions: The Role of Clean Coal Discourse in the Cultivation of Energy Communitarianism Along the Ohio River
dc.typeText
thesis.degree.disciplineCultural Studies
thesis.degree.grantorGeorge Mason University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.namePh.D. in Cultural Studies

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