Revisiting Rural Singularity - A Critical Analysis of Policy Goals and Assumptions from an Environmental Perspective

Rural regions, residents, and occupations, have been problematized by scholars and policy practitioners, and to a growing degree by pollsters and political operatives following their recent impact on the 2016 US elections and UK referendum. However, as barriers in transportation and communication have blurred the boundaries between urban centers and their rural hinterlands, and with the growing decline in agriculture as a primary occupational pursuit, is it perhaps time to adopt a more realistic view of the rural, one which does not try to find ways that allow rural lifestyles to persist at all costs? Looking at this question through the lens of environmental policy and politics may yield unconventional and even conflicting answers: using environmental analysis methods such as life cycle assessment reveals the relative advantage of urbanization in meeting environmental goals including increasing society's energy and resource efficiency, greenhouse gas emission mitigation, and even biodiversity conservation. From an environmental politics standpoint, rural residents have been at the forefront of environmental battles such as the anti-fracking movement on the one hand, but at the same time backers of climate change denial movements on the other. This paper will examine ways to ameliorate some of the negative externalities in rural and agricultural development policy, as well as possibilities for environmental win-win outcomes for rural residents and society at large. Based on this investigation we shall try to outline how these gaps should realign rural research, policies, and political discourse.