Political identity and paradox in oil and gas policy: A study of regulatory exaggeration in Colorado, US

In recent years, the U.S. has undergone a boom in domestic oil and gas production driven by unconventional drilling technologies. Political affiliation is one of the most consequential factors for a range of environmental and technological attitudes but it's relationship to policy preferences for unconventional oil and gas development is less understood. In this manuscript, we consider how political affiliation impacts unconventional oil and gas policy preferences. We develop a novel understanding of “regulatory exaggeration” - we argue that conservative opposition to energy regulations is at least partly a result of a misjudgment of the stringency of current regulations. Statistical models indicate that, while conservatives are opposed to unconventional oil and gas regulations in the abstract, they endorse a range of specific policies more stringent than those currently in place. Further, political conservativism is associated with paradoxically believing that current regulatory environment is too stringent and supporting more stringent, specific policies.