Christopher F. Jones

The Social Dimensions of Energy Transitions

The future of energy systems is one of the central policy challenges facing industrial countries. This challenge is complex and multifaceted. Energy systems are among the largest human enterprises,...

Building More Just Energy Infrastructure: Lessons from the Past

The proposed Keystone XL Pipeline has recently become a major political issue. Many argue that building the pipeline from the Canadian tar sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast will create needed jobs and reduce American dependence on Middle East oil. Others contend that expanding our use of tar sand oil will exacerbate climate change, pose unacceptable risks to Midwestern aquifers, and further entrench our reliance on fossil fuel energy. What is particularly fascinating about these debates is not simply the arguments for and against the pipeline, but the fact that this discussion is happening at all. Pipelines, like all energy transport systems, are easy to take for granted. We rarely think about the vast networks of pipes, tanks, trucks, ships, roads, and rails that bring energy to our homes, factories, or gasoline stations. In part, this is because these systems are designed to be ignored: pipelines and wires are often buried and shipping depots are located on the outskirts of towns. It is also social. As described by historian David Edgerton, modern societies consistently overlook the ongoing importance of older technologies (Edgerton, 2007). We are drawn to the novelty of iPhones, genetically modified organisms, and stem cells, but it usually takes a major system failure like an electricity blackout or the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to direct attention to our energy infrastructures. This inattention is unfortunate. Transport systems do far more than simply move energy. They distribute social costs and benefits, and they do this in profoundly unequal ways. Pipelines, wires, and rails influence who gets access to energy, who profits from it, and which areas suffer environmental degradation. Energy transport systems, in short, have politics (Winner, 1980). Therefore, one Science as Culture, 2013 Vol. 22, No. 2, 157–163, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09505431.2013.786991

Narrating Fukushima: Scales of a Nuclear Meltdown

The nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima in the spring of 2011, according to countless media and government analyses, were a failure of Japan: collusive ties between regulators and industry prevented proper enforcement, the nations nuclear engineers embodied a culture of hubris, and the state prevented the media from raising critical perspectives. This analysis is usefully understood as a narrative. Like all narratives, it reveals certain issues and masks others. One of the limitations of the “failure of Japan” narrative is that its national focus ignores causes and consequences at local and international scales. In this article, we offer a broader view of Fukushima by presenting a series of alternative narratives that draw out local, national, and international dimensions. Casting our gaze beyond the dominant narrative allows us to direct attention to actors and issues often overlooked, such as Cold War politics, international flows of knowledge and materials, global consumers, nation building, villagers in Ōkuma and Futaba, and laborers at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. In particular, we highlight several significant ways in which narratives at different scales intersect, overlap, and reinforce each other. To make sense of the complex forces that brought about the nuclear meltdowns and myriad impacts they will have, we need more stories, not a single narrative.