Disrupted place attachments and emotional energy geography in fracked Appalachia

Abstract

To date, there has been limited analysis at the intersection of extractive industry and emotional geography. Our research addresses this intersection by investigating how gas extraction, production, and distribution have disrupted residents’ place attachment, and how this disruption is emotionally embodied. This research relies on 24 interviews and 2 workshops conducted in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia in the summer of 2021. This tri-state region, sitting on the Marcellus shale, has witnessed a significant industrial buildout in the form of pipelines and hydraulic fracturing in the last fifteen years. This buildout is compounded by social vulnerability and environmental degradation resulting from the historical extractivism that has shaped Appalachia. From the results of this research, we argue that gas extraction, production, and distribution are not only a physical construction but also a system of unfairness and marginalization that materializes in emotional, embodied harms to residents. This paper illuminates the emotional dimensions of energy extractivism, advancing a synthesis of energy and emotional geographies which improves our understanding of how energy systems interact with lived experiences, an essential but overlooked aspect of energy extraction and production.