113
of its sustainability effects. These interviewees critique subsidies accorded
to Teslas as luxury electric vehicles; equate this to 30,000 public transport
tickets per beneficiary; are sceptical of hybrid vehicles as allowing owners
to cash in on incentives without affording any means to monitor their
actual usage of electricity rather than internal combustion engines; and are
critical of political tokenism in public discourse around electric vehicles.
Bureaucratic legitimation is evident to varying extents across Nordic
countries, from Norway’s all-inclusive packages to incentivise electric
vehicles (which are so far mainly cars) to Denmark’s reluctant extension of
lower duties (40% instead of 150%) on electric cars, but by comparison
comes far less into play in relation to the electrification of public transport.
Practices of technocratic legitimation are presented generically to promote
sustainable mobility through charging at off-peak times, mandating battery recycling to reduce externalities, emphasising the decarbonisation of
electric grids and coordinating roll-out with planning that prioritises nonmotorised transport forms and intermodal electric transport. Finally,
financial legitimation is notable in the enormous support provided for
private electric cars which has been used by relatively rich people, and in
the absence of similarly strong support to rapidly build out public electric
transport infrastructure or cushion vulnerable groups against regressive
effects of national fiscal policies on electric mobility (for instance through
free public transport).
Sovacool thus illustrates practices of legitimation along all four registers, drawing on a large body of empirical material to characterise the
multi-sited, multi-scalar and polycentric nature of accountability relations
in mobility systems under transition. His case surfaces instructive principles (Tables 7.2 and 7.3) across comparative country contexts (Table 7.1)
for how to work towards sustainable energy transitions in electrifying
mobility systems. Treatment underscores the importance of unpacking
power-play to fathom automobile incumbency, regime persistence and
path dependence. By studying the practices of legitimation that accompany shifts to electric mobility, accountability analysis brings several crises
to the fore. It provides a means to point out specific measures that can be
undertaken in each context to overcome these crises.
9.2.5
For Steven Wolf
The case is the construction of a habitat exchange market that could
enable habitat replacement for biodiversity conservation of the sage- grouse
9 PRACTICES OF LEGITIMATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY CRISES…
of its sustainability effects. These interviewees critique subsidies accorded
to Teslas as luxury electric vehicles; equate this to 30,000 public transport
tickets per beneficiary; are sceptical of hybrid vehicles as allowing owners
to cash in on incentives without affording any means to monitor their
actual usage of electricity rather than internal combustion engines; and are
critical of political tokenism in public discourse around electric vehicles.
Bureaucratic legitimation is evident to varying extents across Nordic
countries, from Norway’s all-inclusive packages to incentivise electric
vehicles (which are so far mainly cars) to Denmark’s reluctant extension of
lower duties (40% instead of 150%) on electric cars, but by comparison
comes far less into play in relation to the electrification of public transport.
Practices of technocratic legitimation are presented generically to promote
sustainable mobility through charging at off-peak times, mandating battery recycling to reduce externalities, emphasising the decarbonisation of
electric grids and coordinating roll-out with planning that prioritises nonmotorised transport forms and intermodal electric transport. Finally,
financial legitimation is notable in the enormous support provided for
private electric cars which has been used by relatively rich people, and in
the absence of similarly strong support to rapidly build out public electric
transport infrastructure or cushion vulnerable groups against regressive
effects of national fiscal policies on electric mobility (for instance through
free public transport).
Sovacool thus illustrates practices of legitimation along all four registers, drawing on a large body of empirical material to characterise the
multi-sited, multi-scalar and polycentric nature of accountability relations
in mobility systems under transition. His case surfaces instructive principles (Tables 7.2 and 7.3) across comparative country contexts (Table 7.1)
for how to work towards sustainable energy transitions in electrifying
mobility systems. Treatment underscores the importance of unpacking
power-play to fathom automobile incumbency, regime persistence and
path dependence. By studying the practices of legitimation that accompany shifts to electric mobility, accountability analysis brings several crises
to the fore. It provides a means to point out specific measures that can be
undertaken in each context to overcome these crises.
9.2.5
For Steven Wolf
The case is the construction of a habitat exchange market that could
enable habitat replacement for biodiversity conservation of the sage- grouse
9 PRACTICES OF LEGITIMATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY CRISES…