95
8.3
accountaBiLity tEsts and LEgitimacy fLows
of thE coLorado sagE-grousE haBitat ExchangE
Accountability relations are socially mediated assessments that structure
flows of legitimacy and channel sociotechnical development. In reflecting
on how declining populations of sage-grouse might give rise to changes in
the Colorado energy sector, we can identify a set of important actions that
allow us to reflect on how accountability relations and practices of legitimation are implicated in processes of social regulation. The analysis presented here is symmetrical. The aim is to highlight the potential for
accountability relations to advance a sociotechnical dynamic that supports
the sustainability of sage-grouse populations, and to highlight the potential for these same relations to legitimate and reproduce the sociotechnical
dynamic responsible for the existing risk of extinction.
8.3.1 Construction of a Market-based Habitat Exchange
Applied to oil and gas extraction in Colorado and the fate of the sagegrouse, the construction of the habitat exchange is an important effort
to introduce accountability for habitat loss and it is a key site of production of legitimacy for a range of actors. The exchange is promoted as
capable of producing no-net loss of sage-grouse habitat. By quantifying
the habitat losses associated with specific oil and gas development projects and the habitat gains associated with conservation actions by
Colorado landowners interested in selling habitat credits, the exchange is
a platform buying and selling sage-grouse habitat offsets. These offsets
are a form of compensatory mitigation. As imagined by designers of the
exchange, firms seeking drilling permits from the state purchase the
appropriate volume of habitat credits through the exchange, and this
makes it possible to advance oil and gas production while safeguarding
sage-grouse populations. Compensatory mitigation of habitat loss is the
final element of the mitigation hierarchy—avoid, minimise, and offset.
The design and administration of the exchange emphasises offsetting as
a fallback option. Avoiding development projects that degrade habitat
and altering projects to minimise disturbance to habitat advance conservation directly, while offsetting can be understood as providing a more
diffuse benefit to sage-grouse.
The Colorado Exchange was created by the Environmental Defense
Fund (EDF), a New York-based NGO. EDF partnered with the Colorado
8 ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE REGULATION OF LEGITIMACY…
8.3
accountaBiLity tEsts and LEgitimacy fLows
of thE coLorado sagE-grousE haBitat ExchangE
Accountability relations are socially mediated assessments that structure
flows of legitimacy and channel sociotechnical development. In reflecting
on how declining populations of sage-grouse might give rise to changes in
the Colorado energy sector, we can identify a set of important actions that
allow us to reflect on how accountability relations and practices of legitimation are implicated in processes of social regulation. The analysis presented here is symmetrical. The aim is to highlight the potential for
accountability relations to advance a sociotechnical dynamic that supports
the sustainability of sage-grouse populations, and to highlight the potential for these same relations to legitimate and reproduce the sociotechnical
dynamic responsible for the existing risk of extinction.
8.3.1 Construction of a Market-based Habitat Exchange
Applied to oil and gas extraction in Colorado and the fate of the sagegrouse, the construction of the habitat exchange is an important effort
to introduce accountability for habitat loss and it is a key site of production of legitimacy for a range of actors. The exchange is promoted as
capable of producing no-net loss of sage-grouse habitat. By quantifying
the habitat losses associated with specific oil and gas development projects and the habitat gains associated with conservation actions by
Colorado landowners interested in selling habitat credits, the exchange is
a platform buying and selling sage-grouse habitat offsets. These offsets
are a form of compensatory mitigation. As imagined by designers of the
exchange, firms seeking drilling permits from the state purchase the
appropriate volume of habitat credits through the exchange, and this
makes it possible to advance oil and gas production while safeguarding
sage-grouse populations. Compensatory mitigation of habitat loss is the
final element of the mitigation hierarchy—avoid, minimise, and offset.
The design and administration of the exchange emphasises offsetting as
a fallback option. Avoiding development projects that degrade habitat
and altering projects to minimise disturbance to habitat advance conservation directly, while offsetting can be understood as providing a more
diffuse benefit to sage-grouse.
The Colorado Exchange was created by the Environmental Defense
Fund (EDF), a New York-based NGO. EDF partnered with the Colorado
8 ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE REGULATION OF LEGITIMACY…