Mitigating Socioeconomic Impacts of Energy Development

The current emphasis on accelerating the development of energy resources has heightened concern in some communities and regions of the country about their ability to mitigate the social and economic effects associated with such development. GAO studied how three energy rich regions, the Rocky Mountain region, Appalachia, and the coastal zone, were responding to the current and expected impacts of energy development and federal, state, and local resources available to plan for and mitigate the impacts in these regions.