TY - JOUR
T1 - Doubling down on DAPL
T2 - the contentious politics of pipeline governance in Illinois
AU - Sveinsdóttir, Anna G.
AU - Johnson, McKenzie F.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a Hatch Grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture under Grant Number ILLU-875-978/Project Accession Number 1018549 and a University of Illinois Campus Research Board Grant under Grant Number RB19131. Funders were not involved in the study design; collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in writing the manuscript; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. We acknowledge and thank our research participants, who shared their valuable time and insights with us. The experiences and knowledge of these activists, landowners, and policymakers directly shaped our research approach and findings in Illinois. Thank you to the editor and three anonymous reviewers for providing comments that substantially improved the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - This article analyzes the permitting proceeding for the capacity expansion of the Dakota Access and Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipelines in Illinois. Drawing on field research undertaken between 2018–2021, we examine how a grassroots-led coalition of climate activists–Save Our Illinois Land (SOIL)–navigated the Illinois Commerce Commission’s institutional context to oppose regulatory approval. We argue that SOIL mobilized procedural aspects of the regulatory process to politicize a highly path-dependent and techno-managerial administrative proceeding. SOIL did so to open political space for greater consideration of and deliberation around socio-ecological challenges like climate change in pipeline governance. While U.S. focused, our findings highlight the difficulties inherent to employing institutionalized participation as a mechanism to politicize energy governance and engage in contentious energy politics. Climate advocates face complex challenges that inhibit their ability to unsettle the power structures that reinforce carbon-intensive systems and promote inclusive and climate-driven energy infrastructure governance.
AB - This article analyzes the permitting proceeding for the capacity expansion of the Dakota Access and Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipelines in Illinois. Drawing on field research undertaken between 2018–2021, we examine how a grassroots-led coalition of climate activists–Save Our Illinois Land (SOIL)–navigated the Illinois Commerce Commission’s institutional context to oppose regulatory approval. We argue that SOIL mobilized procedural aspects of the regulatory process to politicize a highly path-dependent and techno-managerial administrative proceeding. SOIL did so to open political space for greater consideration of and deliberation around socio-ecological challenges like climate change in pipeline governance. While U.S. focused, our findings highlight the difficulties inherent to employing institutionalized participation as a mechanism to politicize energy governance and engage in contentious energy politics. Climate advocates face complex challenges that inhibit their ability to unsettle the power structures that reinforce carbon-intensive systems and promote inclusive and climate-driven energy infrastructure governance.
KW - Dakota Access Pipeline
KW - Environmental politics
KW - Illinois
KW - climate change
KW - energy infrastructure governance
KW - politicization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85141627648&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85141627648&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09644016.2022.2144027
DO - 10.1080/09644016.2022.2144027
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85141627648
SN - 0964-4016
VL - 32
SP - 861
EP - 882
JO - Environmental Politics
JF - Environmental Politics
IS - 5
ER -