99
that they were willing to engage in offsetting, but not according to the
terms embedded in the HQT. Ecological discipline can be transmitted
through metrics, but power lies elsewhere.
8.4 advancing a sustainaBLE EnErgy transition
that suPPorts sagE-grousE
In reflecting on the Colorado Habitat Exchange as a vehicle to address
conservation, it is worthwhile to reflect critically on the conflation of
habitat conservation and security of the population of sage-grouse. It is
quite possible for the population to collapse without a net loss of habitat.
Climate change, invasive species, wildfire, and cumulative impacts from
home building, road construction, infrastructure, recreation and other
human activities, combined with questions about the fungibility of habitats, raise questions about the coherence of this approach to conservation. Bracketing these issues, these concluding remarks focus on
exploring the value of a co-evolutionary perspective for institutional
analysis and design.
According to the co-evolutionary model presented here, a transition to
a state in which energy supply does not undermine the security of the
sage-grouse population requires new accountability tests that derive from
new conceptions and new practices of legitimacy. These tests must channel
selection in a manner that drives change over time in the distribution of
relevant land use behaviours. The change in behaviours derives from a
shift in the population of actors and the operational procedures, competencies, and strategies of those actors. Under existing political–economic
relations, the exchange is not capable of introducing the required discipline and/or rewarding relevant innovations.
Based on this analysis, research and practical interventions should focus
on the potential for new politics and new dynamics in civil, market, and
cultural domains that are capable of shifting how legitimacy is produced
and accessed. With respect to accountability, there is a need to focus on
sanctions (i.e., the imposition of costs and risks capable of reorienting
behaviour and strategy). At present, the exchange does not work because
there are no mechanisms to create demand for offsets through the
exchange, premised on the HQT. Oil and gas firms are able to access drilling permits from the state through other, less stringent regulatory
8 ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE REGULATION OF LEGITIMACY…
that they were willing to engage in offsetting, but not according to the
terms embedded in the HQT. Ecological discipline can be transmitted
through metrics, but power lies elsewhere.
8.4 advancing a sustainaBLE EnErgy transition
that suPPorts sagE-grousE
In reflecting on the Colorado Habitat Exchange as a vehicle to address
conservation, it is worthwhile to reflect critically on the conflation of
habitat conservation and security of the population of sage-grouse. It is
quite possible for the population to collapse without a net loss of habitat.
Climate change, invasive species, wildfire, and cumulative impacts from
home building, road construction, infrastructure, recreation and other
human activities, combined with questions about the fungibility of habitats, raise questions about the coherence of this approach to conservation. Bracketing these issues, these concluding remarks focus on
exploring the value of a co-evolutionary perspective for institutional
analysis and design.
According to the co-evolutionary model presented here, a transition to
a state in which energy supply does not undermine the security of the
sage-grouse population requires new accountability tests that derive from
new conceptions and new practices of legitimacy. These tests must channel
selection in a manner that drives change over time in the distribution of
relevant land use behaviours. The change in behaviours derives from a
shift in the population of actors and the operational procedures, competencies, and strategies of those actors. Under existing political–economic
relations, the exchange is not capable of introducing the required discipline and/or rewarding relevant innovations.
Based on this analysis, research and practical interventions should focus
on the potential for new politics and new dynamics in civil, market, and
cultural domains that are capable of shifting how legitimacy is produced
and accessed. With respect to accountability, there is a need to focus on
sanctions (i.e., the imposition of costs and risks capable of reorienting
behaviour and strategy). At present, the exchange does not work because
there are no mechanisms to create demand for offsets through the
exchange, premised on the HQT. Oil and gas firms are able to access drilling permits from the state through other, less stringent regulatory
8 ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE REGULATION OF LEGITIMACY…