Public response to energy projects affects the emergence of new technologies and the distribution of their risks and benefits. Here we use thousands of individually authored comments submitted during a regulatory review of unconventional shale gas development in New York State to reconcile previous, inconsistent results about the relationship between proximity and opposition to energy projects. We find that members of the public opposed unconventional shale gas development for different reasons, which varied systematically with proximity to unconventional gas wells. Public discourse in proximate communities was diverse, invoking environmental, social, economic and political impacts, and was anchored by concerns specific to a particular place. By contrast, a few nationally salient environmental concerns dominated public discourse in communities farther from development. Our results demonstrate that public response reflects the mobilization of alternative constituencies with unique understandings of the issue. Distinguishing among these is critical for understanding the nature of public response.

公众对能源项目的反应会影响新技术的出现及其风险和收益的分配。在这里，我们使用了在纽约州非常规页岩气开发监管审查期间提交的数千条个人撰写的评论，以协调先前关于接近和反对能源项目之间关系的不一致结果。我们发现，公众反对非常规页岩气开发的原因各不相同，这些原因因靠近非常规气井而存在系统性差异。邻近社区的公共话语多种多样，涉及环境、社会、经济和政治影响，并以特定地点的特定问题为基础。相比之下，在远离发展的社区中，一些全国突出的环境问题主导了公共讨论。我们的结果表明，公众的反应反映了对这个问题有独特理解的替代选区的动员。区分这些对于理解公众反应的性质至关重要。