Energy justice at the local level and its implications for energy governance: a case study of the Turow lignite coal mine extension

Poland's decision to extend the Turow lignite coal mine is a setback for the EU's push for a rapid transition away from coal and threatens Czech communities' access to underground water. The case has been marred by opaque and questionable environmental permitting and politicization on the Polish side, leading to an unprecedented international legal battle in front of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The ECJ sanctioned Poland and requested the immediate termination of mining activities, but Poland rejected the court's jurisdiction, leading to substantial financial sanctions for non-compliance. The Czech government initially challenged Poland in court but made a U-turn at the beginning of 2022, resulting in a secret agreement with Poland and the case withdrawal from the ECJ. This move is seen as the unjustifiable and unexplained sacrifice of the interests of local communities in the name of good relations with Poland. The research builds on the (mainly economic) literature describing the relationship between public trust in government institutions and the efficiency of governance (cf. Besley, 2021). When the government is perceived as trustworthy, people are more willing to comply with public policies via consent, making policy implementation more efficient and less costly than through coercion (cf. Tyler, 2006, Dann 2022). In the energy sector, this relationship is primarily examined at the narrower level of the relationship between the trust of local communities and their willingness to allow infrastructure construction or resource extraction (cf. Vrieling et.al., 2021, Palomo-Vélez et.al, 2023; for the exception see Davidovic and Harris, 2020). The research aims to answer two questions. First, whether participants in the local opposition and local elites perceive the Turow case as unjust (at the distributive, procedural or recognition level, cf. Heffron and McCauley), and whether this sense of injustice led to their reduced trust in state institutions. Second, if this were indeed the case, how does this reflect on their approach to government (energy) policies? We work here with the assumption that the (perceived) absence of justice in such a contentious and media-covered case is likely to reinforce an already existing narrative of governmental malevolence and incompetence in which the government ignores the rights and interests of its citizens. Which may lead to the future unwillingness of the citizenry to participate in any energy policies of the state. (A frame we have already noticed in the Czech Republic, cf. Cernoch et.al., 2019, Ocelik et. al., 2017). The research will strengthen our understanding of the relationship between energy justice at the local level and the implementation of government energy policies (energy governance). In the context of energy transition, it can highlight the practical implications of how government enforcement of partial energy interests at the expense of local communities can undermine the long-term ability to pursue national energy policies effectively.