Doctoral Dissertation Research: Uneven Development and Perspectives on the Environment

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

Shale gas exploration and extraction through hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, have come to comprise a major component of the American energy supply. Social scientists have documented the enivronmental controversies and local resistance that sometimes accompany these practices, as well as the movements calling for more sustainable and environemtnally benign forms of energy. But less attention has been paid to communities that favor petroleum development. That is the subject of the research supported by this award, which will be undertaken by University of Colorado doctoral student, Gregorio Ortiz, under the supervision of anthropologist, Dr. Jerry K. Jacka. The researchers ask: How do communities that support fracking engage with the environmental discourse against it? How do people in such communities understand their place within environmental discourse and are these conceptions affected by their support of extractive development? Is local extractive development, in turn, affected by the sensibilites of local communities? Findings from this research will fill critical gaps in scientific understanding of the social and environmental impacts of resource extraction. The research will be conducted around the on-going development of the Eagle Ford Shale in south Texas. The region is an appropriate site because it has a long history of petroleum development and natural environmental challenges, such as drought. The oil boom of the 1970s and 1980s shaped the area's recent history even though it did not always lead to infrastructural development nor improved livelihoods. Consequently, the subsequent resource "bust" has affected local livelihoods in complex ways, which makes the study of why local residents support further petroleum development particularly interesting. Ortiz will focus on the communities of the Middle Rio Grande Development Council of Governments in south Texas. He will use a mix of social science methods beginning with archival research; semi-structured interviews with both governmental and non-governmental local and state representatives whose work engages the petroleum industry; and participant observations and interviews with petroleum industry workers. He will then move on to in-depth ethnography, participant observation, and surveys in two local communities. Data collection activities will include interviews, focus groups, and local land and resource mapping. The researcher will highlight how environmental concerns do and do not inform development policy and projects, and if and how perspectives on the environment have changed since the development of the Eagle Ford Shale began. Findings from this study will contribute to the development of more complete social science theory about the relationship between development, energy, and environmental judgment. Findings may also inform development of community-appropriate energy policy.