Public Perceptions of Electric Power Transmissions Lines

Examines the formation and expression of attitudes related to the siting and construction of electric power transmission lines and develops a conceptual framework for understanding negative public reactions to power lines. The framework incorporates direct effects of power lines (e.g., on property values and aesthetics), management-related issues (e.g., equity effects), and variables such as symbolic meaning and conflict dynamics. These variables interact to affect attitudes toward power lines and attitudes toward their siting and construction. These attitudes in turn lead to acceptance or opposition to power lines. The use of psychometric scaling and multivariate analysis to produce quantitative representations of public perceptions of health hazards is discussed.