Abstract
The topic of the STS paper, Effects of Clean Energy on Appalachia, dives into how the
Appalachian people have been negatively impacted by conversion from coal to cleaner energy
sources like wind energy. This effect is viewed through the STS framework of SCOT, social
construction of technology, where society chooses the best technology, out of the almost infinite
technological possibilities, by standards it thinks as a collective are best. The “best” technology
is not purely monetary but can be driven by social, religious, or cultural factors. In the past 50
years, the coal industry has collapsed as other society views it as no longer the best and has been
replaced by newer technologies such as wind, solar, and natural gas.
The topic of Effects of Clean Energy on Appalachia, is almost completely uncoupled
from associated technical projects, but whose exploration is not widely discussed and needs more
light shed on it. For the former coal miners of Appalachia, who for all intents and purposes can
be treated as an ethnic group, the societal drive to change to cleaner fuel sources has not had
purely positive results. Widespread unemployment, poverty, and depressed hopelessness have
replaced their positive economic output and purpose. Those who champion cleaner energy
sources tend to treat the subject as a win-win situation and are either uninformed or uncaring to
the plight of those left behind by society's desires. It is the intent of the associated STS paper to
remind people to consider the unintended consequences of changing the definition of what they
want in a technology.
