Geerling, Mette (2024) The human cost of clean energy policies: An ethnographic study on the declining coal industry in Lynch, Kentucky. Bachelor thesis, Global Responsibility & Leadership (GRL).
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Abstract
An increasing amount of top-down policies regarding clean energy are being implemented in the United States. This research explores the effects of these policies on a small former coal mining town in Appalachia: Lynch. I have conducted fieldwork in this town by using methods as participant observation and in-depth interviews to gain an insight into the effects of the decreasing coal industry on this community, as well as on the way this community envisions their future. This research demonstrates that the decreasing coal industry has a big effect on this community. The main effects I demonstrate include a decrease in population, a loss of identity, frustration towards the (local) government and a division that results in different groups within the town: Old coal miners, missionaries, and people living in Lynch because of convenience. I found that each of these groups envisions the future of this town in a different way, which may create a division. However, they all felt frustrated towards the top-down policies that are being implemented and agreed that they need to be heard by the government to provide for more opportunities in the future. All in all, this thesis uses the decreasing coalmining industry in Lynch as a means to showcase the importance of recognizing and acknowledging the effects of these policies on the groups that are affected.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Name supervisor: | Emlen, N.Q. |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Jun 2024 09:32 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Jun 2024 09:32 |
| URI: | https://campus-fryslan.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/436 |
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