National energy transition, local partisanship? Elite cues, community identity, and support for clean power in the United States

The Clean Power Plan (CPP) is the most ambitious effort to date to de-carbonize the U.S. energy system, promote alternative energy sources and assist communities that will be deleteriously impacted by the decline of traditional fossil fuels. The CPP has proven controversial, with critiques raised by diverse stakeholders. Currently, the future of the CPP is in doubt with the rise of President Trump's decidedly pro-fossil fuel EPA. Despite the controversy around the CPP, little is known about how communities impacted by changes in the energy system view this policy. In this analysis, we present results from a survey of local policy actors in Colorado and Utah-states with diverse and ample energy resources. This analysis asks how factors like community economic identity, elite partisan cues and partisan identity influence support for the CPP. Results imply that local policy actors who view fossil fuels as locally significant are less likely to support the CPP, while community economic identity around alternative energy does not increase support (even though the CPP would benefit that sector). Ellie partisan cues, surprisingly, did little to alter views about the CPP while party affiliation was a powerful predictor. Implications for the local dimensions of energy policy are discussed.