Discourse network analysis of successful renewables expansion in politically polarized environments and the framing techniques employed: The Case of Kansas

Jacob Valdez, B.Sc.

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Renewable energy in the United States is often considered an environmental issue. In the United States, environmental issues and the policies surrounding them (especially as related to climate change) have become increasingly polarized among the US general public since the 1990’s as the elites of the two parties (Democrats and Republicans) beliefs on the environment, anthropogenic climate change, and role of the government in mitigating the effects have diverged quite starkly with the so-called "right" (or, republicans) in the US increasingly moving themselves in the camp of climate change skeptics. Therefore, it is prudent to examine to examine instances where we have witnessed successful expansion of renewable energy in Republican dominated state legisatures so that we may identify techniques that could be replicated in other, similar political environments. Kansas, an extremely Republican state, led the US in expansion of wind generation from 2011-2015 and is currently the 4th leading producer of wind generated electricity in the US and is number 1 in the nation for wind generation as a share of total generation. One of the leading strategies employed has been the use of Renewable Portfolio Standards. Kansas instituted a mandatory RPS in 2009 under a Democratic governor. However, after Republican Sam Brownback was elected in 2010 the RPS remained intact for another 5 years. Republicans are considered to be the more climate-skeptic party, yet Kansas managed to preserve this mandate and expand its generation from renewables at an astonishing rate despite the polarized nature of environmental issues, this information is very interesting and deserves to be analyzed as such. Therefore, I will study the discourse surrounding the renewables debate and the frames employed through the discourse within the state by relevant politicians, stakeholders, and so on in order to see if there are any such patterns of coalitions and central frames that may have had some influence on the state’s preservation of the RPS despite multiple attempts to rollback or freeze the standards. I plan to analyze the text of testimony offered in the state legislature during hearings on bills which attempts to reduce or freeze the standards from relevant politicians and other stakeholders (such as utilities, businesses, private citizens, etc). A codebook will be developed with a mixture of in vivo and thematic coding in an inductive, grounded coding fashion to more organically identify the discourse and frames being employed throughout it as such. The data will also be read and coded multiple times to identify the most salient aspects of the renewables debate within the state.

Abstract:

Renewable energy in the United States is often considered an environmental issue. In the United States, environmental issues and the policies surrounding them (especially as related to climate change) have become increasingly polarized among the US general public since the 1990’s as the elites of the two parties (Democrats and Republicans) beliefs on the environment, anthropogenic climate change, and role of the government in mitigating the effects have diverged quite starkly with the so-called "right" (or, republicans) in the US increasingly moving themselves in the camp of climate change skeptics. Therefore, it is prudent to examine to examine instances where we have witnessed successful expansion of renewable energy in Republican dominated state legisatures so that we may identify techniques that could be replicated in other, similar political environments. Kansas, an extremely Republican state, led the US in expansion of wind generation from 2011-2015 and is currently the 4th leading producer of wind generated electricity in the US and is number 1 in the nation for wind generation as a share of total generation. One of the leading strategies employed has been the use of Renewable Portfolio Standards. Kansas instituted a mandatory RPS in 2009 under a Democratic governor. However, after Republican Sam Brownback was elected in 2010 the RPS remained intact for another 5 years. Republicans are considered to be the more climate-skeptic party, yet Kansas managed to preserve this mandate and expand its generation from renewables at an astonishing rate despite the polarized nature of environmental issues, this information is very interesting and deserves to be analyzed as such. Therefore, I will study the discourse surrounding the renewables debate and the frames employed through the discourse within the state by relevant politicians, stakeholders, and so on in order to see if there are any such patterns of coalitions and central frames that may have had some influence on the state’s preservation of the RPS despite multiple attempts to rollback or freeze the standards. I plan to analyze the text of testimony offered in the state legislature during hearings on bills which attempts to reduce or freeze the standards from relevant politicians and other stakeholders (such as utilities, businesses, private citizens, etc). A codebook will be developed with a mixture of in vivo and thematic coding in an inductive, grounded coding fashion to more organically identify the discourse and frames being employed throughout it as such. The data will also be read and coded multiple times to identify the most salient aspects of the renewables debate within the state.

Keywords

Framing, Discourse, Polarization, Narratives, Renewables, Republicans, Democrats, Mobilization

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 27. 5. 2019

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 20. 6. 2019
• Supervisor: Mgr. Lukáš Lehotský, Ph.D.
• Reader: Mgr. Martin Jirušek, Ph.D.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Social Studies

Master programme / field:
International Territorial Studies / Energy Security Studies (Eng.)