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The Double Diversion of National Energy in a Globalized Era: Offshore Oil, Coal, and Oil Sand Leases

William R. Freudenburg, A Life in Social Research

ISBN: 978-1-78190-734-4, eISBN: 978-1-78190-735-1

Publication date: 20 December 2013

Abstract

This chapter examines similarities in government policies that have accelerated and privatized the extraction of offshore oil, coal, and oil sands on public lands in the United States and Canada, as well as the arguments used to justify those policies. Sociologist William Freudenburg argued that the diversion of public resources into private hands was made possible by a second diversion, the diversion of attention. Freudenburg, with Gramling, later applied this concept to U.S. offshore oil leases, noting that when it came to offshore oil, the myth of “energy independence” was often used to justify policies that were actually antithetical to the concept, promoting further dependence on fossil fuels. We extend the double diversion concept from offshore oil to U.S. coal and Alberta oil sands, noting the similarities in both the policy changes and the diversionary frameworks. The frameworks also divert attention from the increasing risks associated with energy extraction.

Keywords

Citation

Shearer, C., Davidson, D. and Gramling, R. (2013), "The Double Diversion of National Energy in a Globalized Era: Offshore Oil, Coal, and Oil Sand Leases", William R. Freudenburg, A Life in Social Research (Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 57-72. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0196-1152(2013)0000021008

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited