Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Summer 2025

Abstract

In late 2023, Frasier Solar—a large-scale solar project—was proposed in Knox County, Ohio, a rural area with a strong natural gas presence. The project was highly controversial, in no small part because of significant local politicization efforts. In part due to an economic and political history of uneven spatial development, rural communities may adopt insider/outsider framings of social issues, or a politics of resentment. On a broader level, anti-reflexivity theory highlights how conservative counter-movements resist climate action by sowing doubt on climate science and politicizing environmental policy. Given that antireflexive messaging and actors were active in discourse and political organizing around the Frasier Solar project, we analyzed over 3,000 public comments submitted in response to the project to examine the extent to which anti-reflexive framing influenced political engagement with the project. Qualitative content analysis reveals that supporters emphasized economic benefits, the reliability of solar, and landowners’ rights to lease their land for the project. Meanwhile, opponents cited threats to rural character and concerns about solar’s reliability, alongside anti-reflexive concerns about the pollution potential of solar panels. Social network analysis shows how these sentiments form coherent communities and identify which themes drove each “camp’s” discourse. Our research seeks to illuminate the cognitive and cultural associations between insider/outsider interpretations and anti-reflexive framing of solar power. This study offers case study evidence of how anti-reflexive framing operates in rural contexts and highlights the need to understand and address the role of local political and cultural reception in shaping energy transitions.

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In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted