Critical Issues in the Analysis of Social, Economic, and Cultural Impacts of Energy Extraction and Development of Local Areas

Abstract

This paper discusses critical conceptual and methodological issues in the analysis of social, economic, and cultural impacts of energy extraction and development to the local communities and areas surrounding the sites of such development. After briefly reviewing the genesis of impact assessment and its relevance for local areas, the paper presents and discusses three groups of issues: (1) site-specific issues — choice of a unit of analysis, choice of variables to represent the environment (s), the “timeliness” of the indicators, and the problem of using data from different sources; (2) technology-specific issues — characterizing the scope of the energy development, estimating the pace of the development, and estimating the impact of different energy development technologies; and (3) the impact parameter problem — the problem of determining the parameters within which the impacts are to be assessed and compared. Both suggestions for improving the quality of impact assessment and the policy implications of the impact assessment process are presented.