Repository for Oil and Gas Energy Research (ROGER)

Abstract:
The present study examines how itinerant energy workers in the Marcellus Shale region reject stigmatizing labels and construct a positive, work-related identity around sociopositive actions. Qualitative interviews (n = 22) with employees at one contract drilling company are the primary data collection method. Participants use several protective techniques to manage the dirty work stigma that they perceive Marcellus Shale residents ascribe to their work and project onto them. By reframing, recalibrating, and refocusing stigma onto personal and environmental safety, oil-field workers reinforce their preferred self-identities. A social weighting technique allows workers to condemn those community residents who condemn them. This study expands knowledge on how the dirty work label fosters occupational communities within natural resource-based labor, while complementing boomtown studies that focus almost exclusively on community residents.

Abstract:
A survey was conducted on West Virginia land owners with completed shale gas wells located on their property. The research objective was to determine how the separation of mineral from surface rights impacted reported problems and satisfaction with natural gas drilling. Empirical results of theoretical models showed that split estate owners had a statistically greater number of reported problems with drilling. Surface owner dissatisfaction with drilling outcomes was explained primarily by the number of reported problems and nonmonetary compensation. Our results provide motivation for policies to strengthen surface owner rights. (JEL K11, Q48)

Abstract:
Unconventional gas development (UGD) is growing rapidly in the United States. Drawing on insights from risk perception and risk governance theories and recent public opinion surveys, we find that UGD is an emerging technology that is likely to be perceived as risky, even though objective risk assessments suggest that risks are low and controllable through best risk management practices. Perceived risk varies significantly depending on the state and locality but perceptions of risk appear to be increasing as the technology is used more widely in the United States and as organized opponents of the technology intensify their efforts. Risk perceptions are attenuated somewhat because of the perceived benefits of UGD and compensation schemes for individuals and communities. The types of triggering events necessary for large-scale social amplification and stigmatization have not yet occurred but awareness of UGD is growing and organized opposition has been sufficient to cause prohibitions of UGD in some U.S. states and localities. Additional directions for social science research on public reactions to UGD are recommended.

Abstract:
This paper describes a fully independent public participation and review process on the environmental, economic, health, community and social risks and benefits of hydraulic fracturing for the development of unconventional gas and oil resources. We describe the approach taken to maximise public engagement in the process and how that participation informed the work of an independent panel charged with examining the scientific evidence and related legal issues. The major findings from the review are presented, including a risk matrix which summarises the frequency, severity and mitigation measures for 16 potential hazards associated with hydraulic fracturing, as they may pertain to the province of Nova Scotia in Canada. We discuss the complexity of managing public perceptions of novel risks such as hydraulic fracturing and conclude with brief observations on the contribution of the review to public policy.

Abstract:
The rapid expansion of shale gas exploration worldwide is a significant source of environmental controversy. Successful shale gas policy-making is dependent upon a clear understanding of the dynamics of competing stakeholder perspectives on these issues, and so methods are needed to delineate the areas of agreement and conflict that emerge. This empirical study, based in the United Kingdom, examines emergent perspectives on a range of environmental, health and socio-economic impacts associated with shale gas fracking using Q-methodology: a combined qualitative–quantitative approach. The analysis reveals three typologies of perspectives amongst key industry, civil society and non-affiliated citizen stakeholders; subsequently contextualised in relation to Dryzek's typology of environmental discourses. These are labelled (A) ‘Don't trust the fossil fuels industry: campaign for renewables’ (mediating between sustainable development and democratic pragmatism discourses), (B) ‘Shale gas is a bridge fuel: economic growth and environmental scepticism’ (mediating between economic rationalism and ecological modernisation discourses) and (C) ‘Take place protective action and legislate in the public interest’ (reflecting a discourse of administrative rationalism). The implications of these competing discourses for nascent shale gas policy in the UK are discussed in light of recent government public consultation on changes to national planning policy.

Abstract:
New technologies and rising energy prices have resulted in many energy companies investing significant amounts of capital in rural America. Much of the recent focus of energy companies has been on the development of shale oil and natural gas. We examine the differences in levels of support and opposition to shale oil and gas development, building on the literatures of the growth-machine coalition, polluter-industrial complex, and environmental justice. Specifically, we examine different frames of shale development held by government leaders and the public who reside above the New Albany shale play in Southern Illinois and Northwest Kentucky. Using a combination of interview, survey, and participant observation data, we find that government officials emphasize economic growth and many support shale development. While most government leaders claimed that there was not a major division in their communities about shale development, we found the public to be split, with a large countercoalition to shale development in existence.

Abstract:
Shale gas development (SGD) via horizontal drilling and fracking is touted for economic benefits and spurned for health and environmental impacts. Despite SGD's socioecological salience, few peer-reviewed, empirical studies document the distribution of positive and negative effects. The City of Denton, Texas has ~ 280 active gas wells and over a decade of SGD. Here we use an environmental justice framework to analyze the distribution of SGD's costs and benefits within Denton. Using data on mineral property values from 2002 to 2013 and gas well locations, we ask: who owns Denton's mineral rights (i.e. the greatest financial beneficiaries) and how does this ownership pattern relate to who lives near gas wells (i.e. those who shoulder the nuisances and health impacts)? Our results show that Denton's mineral wealth is widely distributed around the U.S., residents own 1% of the total value extracted, and the city government is a large financial beneficiary. In addition to distributional inequities, our analysis demonstrates that split estate doctrine, legal deference to mineral owners, and SGD's uniqueness in urban centers create disparities in municipal SGD decision-making processes. The environmental justice issues associated with fracking in Denton also provide one possible explanation for residents' November 2014 vote to ban hydraulic fracturing.

Abstract:
The prospect of fracking in the United Kingdom has been accompanied by significant public unease. We outline how the policy debate is being framed by UK institutional actors, finding evidence of a dominant discourse in which the policy approach is defined through a deficit model of public understanding of science and in which a technical approach to feasibility and safety is deemed as sufficient grounds for good policymaking. Deploying a deliberative focus group methodology with lay publics across different sites in the north of England, we find that these institutional framings are poorly aligned with participants’ responses. We find that unease regularly overflows the focus on safety and feasibility and cannot be satisfactorily explained by a lack of understanding on the part of participants. We find that scholarship from science and technology studies productively elucidates our participants’ largely sceptical positions, and orientates strategies for responding to them more effectively.

Abstract:
Shifting markets can cause unexpected, stochastic changes in rural landscapes that may take local communities by surprise. Preferential siting of new industrial facilities in poor areas or in areas with few regulatory restrictions can have implications for environmental sustainability, human health, and social justice. This study focuses on frac sand mining—the mining of high-quality silica sand used in hydraulic fracturing processes for gas and oil extraction. Frac sand mining gained prominence in the 2000s in the upper midwestern United States where nonmetallic mining is regulated primarily by local zoning. I asked whether frac sand mines were more commonly sited in rural townships without formal zoning regulations or planning processes than in those that undertook zoning and planning before the frac sand boom. I also asked if mine prevalence was correlated with socioeconomic differences across townships. After creating a probability surface to map areas most suitable for frac sand mine occurrence, I developed neutral landscape models from which to compare actual mine distributions in zoned and unzoned areas at three different spatial extents. Mines were significantly clustered in unzoned jurisdictions at the statewide level and in 7 of the 8 counties with at least three frac sand mines and some unzoned land. Subsequent regression analyses showed mine prevalence to be uncorrelated with land value, tax rate, or per capita income, but correlated with remoteness and zoning. The predicted mine count in unzoned townships was over two times higher than that in zoned townships. However, the county with the most mines by far was under a county zoning ordinance, perhaps indicating industry preferences for locations with clear, homogenous rules over patchwork regulation. Rural communities can use the case of frac sand mining as motivation to discuss and plan for sudden land-use predicaments, rather than wait to grapple with unfamiliar legal processes during a period of intense conflict.

Abstract:
Development of shale gas resources using hydraulic fracturing has dramatically increased U.S. gas production, but also created new needs for risk analysis and governance. Risk analysis for an emerging technology has traditionally relied on experts with knowledge of the technology and its anticipated impacts. But today it is accepted that input from non-expert interested and affected parties (IAPs) is also essential. We present a novel method to elicit concerns from IAPs about the development of shale gas resources. We used an Internet-based snowball sample to identify IAPs and an open-ended prompt to gather their concerns. Reported concerns included potential consequences for environmental, social, and health systems, as well as hazards, hazardous events, precursors to hazards, risk amplifiers, and issues concerning the effective and fair governance of the risks. Some concerns raised have not been addressed in expert-led analyses of shale gas risks. Long-term consequences such as disruptions to economic activities, and governance issues such as regulatory capacity, were more prominent in the responses than in expert analyses. These findings show how engagement with interested and affected parties can elucidate key issues for risk governance in shale gas development. The method can also be applied to other emerging energy development issues.

Abstract:
Pennsylvania sits atop the Marcellus Shale, a reservoir of natural gas that was untapped until the 2004 introduction of unconventional natural gas drilling operations (UNGDO) in the state. Colloquially known as fracking, UNGDO is a controversial process that employs large volumes of water to fracture the shale and capture gas; it has become a multi-billion dollar industry in Pennsylvania. We analyzed letters to the editor of the most widely circulated local newspaper in the most heavily drilled county in Pennsylvania (Bradford County) in order to characterize residents' concerns and their involvement in popular epidemiology-the process by which citizens investigate risks associated with a perceived environmental threat. We reviewed 215 letters to the editor that referenced natural gas operations and were published by The Daily Review between January 1, 2008 and June 8, 2013. We used NVivo 10 to code and analyze letters and identify major themes. Nvivo is qualitative data analysis software (http://www.qsrinternational.com/products_nvivo.aspx) that allows researchers to code and analyze "unstructured" data, including text files of any type (e.g., interview transcripts, news articles, letters, archival materials) as well as photographs and videos. Nvivo can be used to classify, sort, query, comment on, and share data across a research group. Letters demonstrated citizen engagement in beginning and intermediate stages of lay epidemiology, as well as discord and stress regarding four main issues: socio-economic impacts, perceived threats to water, population growth and implications, and changes to the rural landscape. Residents called for stronger scientific evidence and a balance of economic development and health and environmental protections. Citizens' distress regarding UNGDO appeared to be exacerbated by a dearth of information to guide economic growth and health, environmental, and social concerns. This analysis proposes locally informed questions to guide future surveillance and research.

Abstract:
Modern forms of drilling and extraction have recently led to a boom in oil and gas production in the U.S. and stimulated a controversy around its economic benefits and environmental and human health impacts. Using an environmental justice paradigm this study applies Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis to determine whether certain vulnerable human populations are unequally exposed to pollution from unconventional gas wells in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Several GIS-based approaches were used to identify exposed areas, and a t-test was used to find statistically significant differences between rural populations living close to wells and rural populations living farther away. Sociodemographic indicators include age (children and the elderly), poverty level, education level, and race at the census tract level. Local Indicators of Spatial Autocorrelation (LISA) technique was applied to find spatial clusters where both high well density and high proportions of vulnerable populations occur. The results demonstrate that the environmental injustice occurs in areas with unconventional wells in Pennsylvania with respect to the poor population. There are also localized clusters of vulnerable populations in exposed areas in all three states: Pennsylvania (for poverty and elderly population), West Virginia (for poverty, elderly population, and education level) and Ohio (for children).

Abstract:
Governmental agencies, regulators, health professionals, and the public are faced with understanding and responding to new development practices and conditions in their local and regional environment. While hydraulic fracking (fracking) for shale gas has been practiced for over 50 years in some states, it is a relatively recent event in the northeastern United States. Providing environmental health information to the public about fracking requires understanding both the knowledge base and the perceptions of the public. The knowledge, perceptions, and concerns of college students about fracking were examined. Students were interviewed at Rutgers University in New Jersey, a state without any fracking, although fracking occurs in nearby Pennsylvania. Objectives were to determine (1) knowledge about fracking, (2) rating of concerns, (3) trusted information sources, (4) importance of fracking relative to other energy sources, and (5) the effect of a 15-min lecture and discussion on these aspects. On the second survey, students improved on their knowledge (except the components used for fracking), and their ratings changed for some concerns, perceived benefits, and trusted information sources. There was no change in support for further development of natural gas, but support for solar, wind, and wave energy decreased. Data suggest that students' knowledge and perceptions change with exposure to information, but many of these changes were due to students using the Internet to look up information immediately after the initial survey and lecture. Class discussions indicated a general lack of trust for several information sources available on the Web.

Abstract:
Hydraulic fracturing (HF) is a focal topic in discussions about domestic energy production, yet the American public is largely unfamiliar and undecided about the practice. This study sheds light on how individuals may come to understand hydraulic fracturing as this unconventional production technology becomes more prominent in the United States. For the study, a thorough search of HF photographs was performed, and a systematic evaluation of 40 images using an online experimental design involving participants was conducted. Key indicators of hydraulic fracturing support and beliefs were identified. Participants showed diversity in their support for the practice, with 47 percent expressing low support, 22 percent high support, and 31 percent undecided. Support for HF was positively associated with beliefs that hydraulic fracturing is primarily an economic issue and negatively associated with beliefs that it is an environmental issue. Level of support was also investigated as a perceptual filter that facilitates biased issue perceptions and affective evaluations of economic benefit and environmental cost frames presented in visual content of hydraulic fracturing. Results suggested an interactive relationship between visual framing and level of support, pointing to a substantial barrier to common understanding about the issue that strategic communicators should consider.

Abstract:
Across vast swaths of mostly rural Pennsylvania, dramatic social, economic, and environmental transformations have occurred in the last five years as these regions have experienced a new natural resource boom in the form of unconventional natural gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale formation. While Pennsylvania's former Governor, Tom Corbett, and shale industry advocates hailed these developments as an economic godsend for Pennsylvania, others have raised serious concerns about the potential social, environmental, and economic consequences. In this paper, we examine youth perspectives in shale gas communities and how young people weigh their education and future prospects in light of local economic, environmental, and community change. We find that youth career decisions are often characterized by a deep ambivalence about the gas industry, its longevity, its capacity to provide desirable and local employment, and its ultimate effects on the livability and social sustainability of Pennsylvania's shale gas communities, complicating pro-industry and neoliberal narratives of opportunity and economic development. This ambivalence raises critical questions about the effects of new labor market opportunities on the educational, career, and residential aspirations of youth within areas of high drilling and gas extraction activity.

Abstract:
Gas extraction from the Groningen gasfield in the northern Netherlands has led to localised earthquakes which are projected to become more severe. The social impacts experienced by local residents include: damage to property; declining house prices; concerns about the chance of dykes breaking; feelings of anxiety and insecurity; health issues; and anger. These social and emotional impacts are exacerbated by the increasing distrust Groningen people have towards the national government and the gas company, NAM, a partnership between Shell and ExxonMobil. The earthquakes have reopened discussions about the distribution of benefits from gas production and the extent to which benefits are retained locally. Mitigation of the impacts is attempted, but the lack of trust decreases the effectiveness of the mitigation measures. The extent of this experience of previously-unforeseen, unanticipated impacts suggests that a new social and environmental impact assessment needs to be undertaken, and a new Social Impact Management Plan (SIMP) and Impacts and Benefits Agreement (IBA) developed, so that the project can regain its legitimacy and social licence to operate. In addition to conventional gas, this paper has wider relevance for unconventional gas developments, for example shale gas extraction by hydraulic fracturing methods (fracking).

Abstract:
‘Fracking’ was on New York's agenda since 2008, yet no decision was made about it until late 2014. The gridlock is an intriguing puzzle given that the Marcellus shale is considered a ‘world class’ energy supply, and development has been aggressive in other US states. While policy scholars typically conceptualize gridlock as policy stability, this paper examines it as a dynamic process by which competing discourse coalitions engage in interactive framing processes that (re)structure the discussion. This suggests that the interaction between contending coalitions influences gridlock. Yet, we lack knowledge about interactive framing between competing coalitions during policy controversies. Our main finding is that a central mechanism of gridlock is the production of conflict through interactive framing dynamics that deny a shared discursive space capable of ushering in a consensus, or reasoned agreement. In New York, this contest evolved from a policy consensus about the economic benefits of fracking to policy negotiation that incorporated environmental threats, and to prolonged policy controversy in which competing discourse coalitions contested notions of fracking in relation to energy production, environmental protection, public health, economic development, and governance. While a ban has been instituted, the failure to bridge discourse coalitions suggests that controversy will persist unless meaning disputes are resolved.

Abstract:
This article examines competing political discourses surrounding shale extraction in the UK. It asks how these meanings are communicated and why certain understandings of the issue gain prominence. Drawing on discourse analysis and framing studies, the article first distinguishes two competing coalitions (pro- and anti-shale) and their shared narratives or ‘storylines’ (shale opportunity versus shale threat). Through a systematic examination of press reports, websites and public documents, it identifies opposing discursive frames used to shape understanding, meaning and debates, and assesses their resonance and power. The article builds on existing interpretive studies by providing a finer-grained analysis of discourse success, and a greater emphasis on the coalition members who shape and deliver the agreed storyline. It argues that the anti-shale coalition in the UK has thus far enjoyed greater discourse success for two reasons: firstly, because the pro-shale coalition lacks trustworthy messengers; secondly, because shale opponents have successfully expanded the debate beyond economic or environmental concerns to include potent issues of local power and democracy.

Abstract:
Although shale energy development can bring infusions of money and jobs to local communities, an array of risks to community-level assets and institutions is also possible. Sociological research dating back to the 1970s links rapid oil and gas development with overburdened municipal services, upended social and cultural patterns, and volatile economic growth. Research on technological risk has demonstrated communities can come to be associated with pollution and contamination, resulting in out-migration, declining amenity-led development, and decreased financial investment. Emerging shale energy case studies in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Texas show a similar, although nuanced, picture of these concerns. Yet, little data exists on the prevalence or magnitude of these risks in the current context of shale gas development. The existing research has largely remained case-based in nature, has not been synthesized across various disciplines, and has not been updated to account for various social and technological trends that have occurred since its publication. This paper offers a critical review of major research endeavors that inform our knowledge of risk to communities from shale energy development, while identifying gaps in our understanding of these risks and areas of research need.

Abstract:
Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale region residents have reported medical symptoms they believe are related to nearby Unconventional Natural Gas Development (UNGD). Associations between medical symptoms and UNGD have been minimally explored. The objective of this descriptive study is to explore whether shale region Pennsylvania residents perceive UNGD as a health concern and whether they attribute health symptoms to UNGD exposures. A questionnaire was administered to adult volunteers with medical complaints in a primary-care medical office in a county where UNGD was present. Participants were asked whether they were concerned about health effects from UNGD, and whether they attributed current symptoms to UNGD or to some other environmental exposure. There were 72 respondents; 22% perceived UNGD as a health concern and 13% attributed medical symptoms to UNGD exposures. Overall, 42% attributed one or more of their medical symptoms to environmental causes, of which UNGD was the most frequent. A medical record review conducted on six participants who attributed their medical symptoms to UNGD revealed that only one of these records documented both the symptoms in question and the attribution to UNGD. The results of this pilot study suggest that there is substantial concern about adverse health effects of UNGD among Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale residents, and that these concerns may not be adequately represented in medical records. Further efforts to determine the relationship between UNGD and health are recommended in order to address community concerns.

Abstract:
Emerging technologies pose particularly strong challenges for risk governance when they have multidimensional and inequitable impacts, when there is scientific uncertainty about the technology and its risks, when there are strong value conflicts over the perceived benefits and risks, when decisions must be made urgently, and when the decision making environment is rife with mistrust. Shale gas development is one such emerging technology. Drawing on previous U.S. National Research Council committee reports that examined risk decision making for complex issues like these, we point to the benefits and challenges of applying the analytic-deliberative process recommened in those reports for stakeholder and public engagement in risk decision making about shale gas development in the United States. We discuss the different phases of such a process and conclude by noting the dangers of allowing controversy to ossify and the benefits of sound dialogue and learning among publics, stakeholders, industry, and regulatory decision makers.

Abstract:
Using survey and interview data gathered from educators and educational administrators, we investigate school and community impacts of unconventional gas extraction within Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region. Respondents in areas with high levels of drilling are significantly more likely to perceive the effects of local economic gains, but also report increased inequality, heightened vulnerability of disadvantaged community members, and pronounced strains on local infrastructure. As community stakeholders in positions of local leadership, school leaders in areas experiencing Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction often face multiple decision-making dilemmas. These dilemmas occur in the context of incomplete information and rapid, unpredictable community change involving the emergence of both new opportunities and new insecurities.

Abstract:
In this exploratory analysis, we survey Susquehanna River basin stakeholders regarding the environmental, social, and economic impacts of natural gas hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Region. Our survey involved collecting data based on four categories: economic opportunity, protection of health and safety, preserving communities, and achieving energy security. We separated responses on a cross-sector basis in order to differentiate between the nonprofit, government, and private sectors. Overall, responses by the three sectors are relatively similar. Of the 21 questions measured by a 5-point Likert-type scale (with 5 being the highest priority), 17 questions measure above 3 for all three sectors. With hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Region in the early stages of a typical energy “boom-bust” cycle, the results of this survey provide baseline data to compare with stakeholder attitudes at later stages of the cycle.

Abstract:
Finewood and Stroup (J Contemp Water Res Educ 147(1), 72–79, 2012) observe that as hydraulic fracturing for natural gas spreads across the USA, neoliberal ideologies normalize fracking’s potential dangers, including impacts to water and more general environmental quality. Theoretical observations like these must be tested empirically. I do so here, analyzing data from extensive fieldwork in Pennsylvania’s Bradford, Susquehanna, and Washington counties. Drawing on comparative mixed method data from fieldwork in northeastern Pennsylvania’s ‘Endless Mountains’ region and the Pittsburgh area, I compare how small-scale farmers perceive and sometimes enact elements of market-based, neoliberal rationality when assessing hydrofracking’s community, environmental, and economic outcomes. This paper explores why this matters sociologically, given small-scale farmers’ roles as land-use decision-makers, stewards of related natural resource development, and marginalized producers with limited access to market shares and subsidies. In counties like Bradford and Washington, impacts of fracking small-scale farmers have been under-studied. To address that gap, I examine impacts on farmers operating around natural gas development and within neoliberal economic structures. Analyzing extensive interview and ethnographic data, the following research questions are addressed: (1) Among small-scale farmers impacted by hydraulic fracturing, what evidence exists that neoliberal logic helps farmers normalize fracking? and (2) How does normalization interact with decisions to sign natural gas leases? My findings indicate that many farmers utilize neoliberal logic when assessing impacts of hydraulic fracturing and shale gas development, particularly as rapid energy development relates to their land-use decisions. Neoliberal normalization of hydraulic fracturing emerges most saliently regarding environmental outcomes and economic development. I connect this to small-scale farmers’ economic vulnerability and the limited agency in dictating land use near their farms.

Abstract:
The recent push to develop unconventional sources of oil and gas both in the U.S. and abroad via hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) has generated a great deal of controversy. Effectively engaging stakeholders and setting appropriate policies requires insights into current public perceptions of this issue. Using a nationally representative U.S. sample (N=1061), we examine public perceptions of hydraulic fracturing including: “top of mind” associations; familiarity with the issue; levels of support/opposition; and predictors of such judgments. Similar to findings on other emerging technologies, our results suggest limited familiarity with the process and its potential impacts and considerable uncertainty about whether to support it. Multiple regression analysis (r2=.49) finds that women, those holding egalitarian worldviews, those who read newspapers more than once a week, those more familiar with hydraulic fracturing, and those who associate the process with environmental impacts are more likely to oppose fracking. In contrast, people more likely to support fracking tend to be older, hold a bachelor's degree or higher, politically conservative, watch TV news more than once a week, and associate the process with positive economic or energy supply outcomes. Based on these findings, we discuss recommendations for future research, risk communication, and energy policy.

Abstract:
The study reports data from an economic choice experiment to determine the likely welfare impacts of hydraulic fracturing, in this case using natural gas extracted by hydraulic fracturing for household electricity. Data were collected from an Internet survey of 515 residents of New York State. The welfare analysis indicated that on average households incur a welfare loss from in-state hydraulic fracturing as the source of their electricity. The evidence suggests that households in shale counties bear more costs from HF electricity than households out of shale counties. The average welfare loss is substantive, estimated at 40–46% of average household electric bills in shale counties and 16–20% of bills in counties without shale. The evidence also suggests that relative proximity to HF well sites also increases cost borne by households.

Abstract:
Shale gas has gained increasing worldwide attention in the light of the rapid production and significant effects seen in the United States. Using this case as a reference, several countries have taken the first steps to develop their own resources, with Mexico in particular including shale gas in its energy planning priorities and rushing towards its commercial production, although results have still remained elusive. This paper argues that due to the intrinsic complexity embedded in the shale gas development of the United States, its use as a benchmark by Mexico for policy making purposes is misleading, given the challenges in reproducing the same factors of success on the basis of the contextual differences between both countries. The findings presented can ultimately be helpful for other countries looking forward to or in the process of developing their shale gas resources driven by the same reference.

Abstract:
The pace of development of shale gas plays varies greatly among US states and globally. Through analysis of telephone survey responses, we explore support for natural gas drilling in residents of Washington County (WC), PA (n=502) vs. residents of Allegheny County (AC), PA (n=799). WC has had intense Marcellus Shale (MS) drilling activity, in comparison to adjacent AC, which has had little drilling activity. WC residents are marginally more supportive of MS drilling than are AC residents (p=0.0768). Residents of WC are more likely to perceive MS as an economic opportunity than are AC residents (p=0.0015); to be in a family that has signed a MS lease (p<0.0001); to follow the MS issue closely (p=0.0003); to get MS information from neighbors, friends, and relatives (p<0.0001); and are marginally less likely to perceive MS as an environmental threat (p=0.1090). WC leaseholders are significantly more supportive of MS drilling than WC non-leaseholders and AC non-leaseholders (p=0.0024). Mediation analyses show that county-based differences in support of MS drilling are due to WC residents seeing more of an economic opportunity in the MS and their greater likelihood of having a family-held lease.

Abstract:
Environmental controversy over unconventional natural gas development utilizing horizontal drilling and hydraulic "fracking" has been on the rise in recent years. While most of the media attention has been focused on the conflicts in states like Pennsylvania, New York, Texas, and Colorado, the discovery of huge natural gas reserves in the Haynesville Shale formation in 2008 set off a drilling rush that has resulted in differential benefits and risks for various residents. Drawing on current research and extensive interview data collected from a relevant cross-section of community stakeholders, this study offers a descriptive and comparative analysis of the types of benefits and opportunities perceived to accompany increased unconventional natural gas development, the range of perceived negative impacts and threats associated with such development, and the extent to which respondents viewed the benefits of the Haynesville boom as outweighing the costs. While most stakeholders perceived that natural gas development offered the community a host of positive socioeconomic benefits in the form of increased jobs, tax revenues, services, and new economic opportunities for local businesses and landowners, a substantial minority of residents also associated shale development with a larger number of negative social, economic, and environmental impacts. Those included the degradation of water resources; increased road damage, noise, and traffic accidents; and other assorted threats to public health, animals, and the rural landscape. Moreover, while most Haynesville residents believed that the socioeconomic benefits of development had outweighed the collective socioeconomic/environmental costs to the region, a substantial minority of respondents was also skeptical or disagreed that the benefits to date had been worth the risks. These findings both support and extend existing sociological research in several key respects. The implications of the study, both for the region and the national debate over fracking, are discussed.

Abstract:
Recent advances in gas and oil drilling technology have led to dramatic boomtown development in many rural areas that have endured extended periods of economic decline. In Pennsylvania's Marcellus gas fields, the recent development of unconventional shale gas resources has not been without controversy. It has been variously framed as a major opportunity for economic revitalization at the local and regional levels and energy independence at the national level, but also as a significant environmental risk, with uncertain and uneven economic benefits. We use data from a survey conducted in 309 school districts located within Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region to study the ways local stakeholders perceive both risk and opportunity associated with gas extraction from Marcellus Shale. Our analyses indicate that there is a strong positive association between perceptions of risk and opportunity associated with gas extraction. Further, the intensity of perception of both risk and opportunity is directly associated with the amount of local drilling, suggesting the complexity of local contexts within which local stakeholders evaluate rapid boomtown-associated community change. In total, these findings complicate the framing of unconventional gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale region, and indeed boomtown growth overall, as fundamentally polarizing issues.

Abstract:
Introduction: Concerns for health and social impacts have arisen as a result of Marcellus Shale unconventional natural gas development. Our goal was to document the self-reported health impacts and mental and physical health stressors perceived to result from Marcellus Shale development. Methods: Two sets of interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of community members living proximal to Marcellus Shale development, session 1 March–September 2010 (n=33) and session 2 January–April 2012 (n=20). Symptoms of health impacts and sources of psychological stress were coded. Symptom and stressor counts were quantified for each interview. The counts for each participant were compared longitudinally. Results: Participants attributed 59 unique health impacts and 13 stressors to Marcellus Shale development. Stress was the most frequently-reported symptom. Over time, perceived health impacts increased (P=0.042), while stressors remained constant (P=0.855). Discussion: Exposure-based epidemiological studies are needed to address identified health impacts and those that may develop as unconventional natural gas extraction continues. Many of the stressors can be addressed immediately.

Abstract:
The US has undergone a recent boom in the development of onshore wind farm and natural gas energy projects and contentious debates over the construction of these projects are common in communities across the US. A survey of landowners in a region of Northern Pennsylvania (N=1028) undergoing simultaneous development of both wind and natural gas development shows that landowners are generally much more polarized and negative towards gas development than wind farm development, and that attitudes toward natural gas development is highly dependent on environmental attitudes and industry leasing, development, or employment experience. Landowner proximity to the development explains a small amount of the variation in attitudes towards wind energy. Recommendations for energy policy and future research are discussed.

Abstract:
This article describes a place and people undergoing rapid transition using some of the preliminary findings from two years of ongoing ethnographic field work. Through exploring what ethnographic evidence is revealing concerning the impacts of Marcellus shale gas development in Bradford County, in Northeastern Pennsylvania, I illustrate the ways that rapid social and economic change processes are impacting daily lives and community dynamics in one traditionally agricultural and rural place. I provide a broad overview of the social history and current social dynamics in order to understand the significance of the short-term changes agricultural landowners and other local residents have witnessed and experienced. I discuss some of the most significant short-term changes in quality of life as seen by a small group of agricultural landowners, in relation to the cultural significance of place, home, and family, and what this tells us about the sociocultural and psychological impacts of rapid energy development. Finally, I comment on what my ethnographic data show so far with regard to the short- and long-term individual and collective impacts being experienced in this one community.

Abstract:
This study is a replication of Theodori et al.’s (2009)research on public perception of desalinated produced water from oil and gas field operations. The data used in this paper were collected in twelve Texas counties. Overall, the findings of this investigation paralleled those uncovered in Theodori et al.’s original exploration. Our data reveal that small percentages of respondents are extremely familiar with the process of desalination and extremely confident that desalinated water could meet human drinking water quality and purity standards. Our data also indicate that respondents are more favorably disposed toward the use of desalinated water for purposes where the probability of human or animal ingestion is lessened. Lastly, our data show that individuals with higher levels of familiarity with the process of desalination were more likely than those with lower levels of familiarity to agree that desalinated water from oil and gas field operations could safely be used for each of nine proposed purposes. Possible implications of these findings are advanced.

Abstract:
Thousands of rural landownersin New York State have joined together to form grassroots organizations aimed at collectively bargaining with natural gas companies. The leverage afforded by acting collectively allows these landowner coalitions to potentially influence the economic, environmental, and community impacts of gas development across hundreds of thousands of acres. In-depth interviews with coalition leaders conducted for this article reveal the scope, motivations, and benefits of membership in these groups. Our work examines these elements using multiple frameworks for understanding collective natural resource management. The coalitions are primarily concerned with the advancement of private member benefits, while public benefits of the collective action are poised to accrue indirectly. Group leaders are also contemplating how to use their leverage to secure direct benefits for the wider community – actions that may give communities a modicum of local control over gas development.

Abstract:

Abstract:
Researchers have long considered factorsrelated to residential energy consumption. We contribute to this genre of work by exploring how residential location (rural-urban) and race are related to residential natural gas consumption. We also consider whether these relationships, if they exist, are functions of differences in housing characteristics, investment in energy efficiency, and weather conditions. Analyzing four waves of the Residential Energy Consumption Surveys, we find that natural gas consumption differs by residential location only to the extent that investment in energy efficiency and weather conditions are not taken into consideration. We also find race differences in natural gas consumption, with African-Americans consuming more per year than whites. African-Americans’ higher natural gas consumption persists even after the effects of housing characteristics, investment in energy efficiency, weather conditions, and other critical covariates of energy consumption are statistically held constant. More work, especially field research, is needed to understand why African-Americans consume more natural gas than other groups.

Abstract:
Researchers have found that the economic, social, and environmental impacts of energy development vary with both the type and location of development. Previous studies have highlighted impacts associated with the conventional energy development that occurred in the western United States in the 1970s and 1980s, and with offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Recently, however, unconventional natural gas development has become a more common type of energy development, the impacts of which are not yet well understood. To assess these impacts, as part of a larger quantitative study conducted within two Texas counties, survey respondents were invited to share “additional comments” as desired. I analyzed these comments using open coding and constant comparison to identify prominent themes for each county. Themes ranged from positive to negative, and reflected economic, social, and environmental impacts accompanying unconventional natural gas development. Findings may inform theory and be of interest to community leaders and others interested in the impacts of unconventional gas development.