Award Date
May 2018
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Communication
First Committee Member
Emma Frances Bloomfield
Second Committee Member
Michael Bruner
Third Committee Member
Donovan Conley
Fourth Committee Member
Andrew Kirk
Number of Pages
107
Abstract
Utilizing a dramatistic rhetorical lens (Burke, 1945), this project examines Nevada’s 2015-2017 public controversy to decide whether or not to implement solar net metering incentives. By examining communication surrounding The Public Utility Commission of Nevada (PUCN), NV Energy, and SolarCity, this thesis analyzes the underlying social orientations contained within the controversy’s discourse. This thesis examines how the environment was left out of solar energy discourse in favor of economic reasoning. Nevada’s solar controversy is an important component of humanity’s unending conversation about our relationship to the environment and an important case study to develop our understanding of public controversy.
Keywords
Dramatism; Environmental Communication; Net metering; Public Controversy
Disciplines
Oil, Gas, and Energy | Rhetoric
File Format
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Repository Citation
Burgy, Robert S., "A Dramatistic Analysis of Nevada's Controversy over Solar Net Metering Incentive Policies" (2018). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 3225.
http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/13568399
Rights
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