The Shale Renaissance: How Fracking Has Changed Pennsylvania in the Twenty-First Century

265 Pages·2022·3.21 MB·English

by  Jonathan M. Fisk, David Allen Good Jr, Soren Jordan

THE SHALE RENAISSANCE

THE SHALE
RENAISSANCE
How
Fracking
Has
Changed
Pennsylvania
in the
Twenty-First
Century
JONATHAN M. FISK, SOREN JORDAN, AND A.J. GOOD
University of Pittsburgh Press
Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15260
Copyright © 2022, University of Pittsburgh Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Printed on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 13: 978-0-8229-4736-3
ISBN 10: 0-8229-4736-6
Cover art and design by Melissa Dias-Mandoly
This book is dedicated to my family, including my supportive partner, Mel-
anie, and our three sons, Noah, Micah, and Caleb. Thank you for being my
motivation to finish this book and a daily source of laughter and joy.
Jonathan M. Fisk
To Kim and Pat, who taught me how to theorize; to Dan, who taught me
how to model; and to Victoria and Pippa, who remind me why it’s worth it.
Soren Jordan
I dedicate this book to my partner, Megan, and our two children, Ida and
Benton. I am deeply grateful for your continual patience, unwavering sup-
port, and unconditional love over the course of this journey. Thank you for
being the best part of each day and my source of inspiration.
A. J. Good

CONTENTS
Preface
ix
CHAPTER 1
The Politics of Unconventional Oil and Gas
and the Challenge of Compliance
3
CHAPTER 2
Developing a Theory of Oil and Gas Compliance
39
CHAPTER 3
Pennsylvania, Fracking, and the Twenty-First-Century Boom
67
CHAPTER 4
Compliance Trends
99
CHAPTER 5
Site-Level Factors
129
CHAPTER 6
County-Level and Substate Factors
151
CHAPTER 7
State-Level Factors
169
CHAPTER 8
The Context of Compliance
200
Appendix: Methods
209
Notes
215
Works Cited
217
Index
239
viii
PREFACE
State regulations, regulators, and enforcement practices are at the core of
many environmental debates, including the oil and gas controversy (War-
ner and Shapiro 2013). Even with additional scrutiny, the politics of con-
ventional and unconventional oil and gas production are fractious and have
appeared on the regulatory and legislative agenda in more than thirty states
(Fisk 2017). Oil and gas rules are designed to protect environmental qual-
ity and public health while still permitting efficient development and ex-
traction. The challenge for regulators, therefore, is designing rules, inspec-
tion protocols, and consequences that satisfy both goals. Overzealous rules
and enforcement may stymie growth, hurt industry, and lead to antagonistic
relationships between regulators and regulated firms.
The twenty-first century’s oil and gas debate directly impacts nearly all
aspects of American life: fifteen million Americans live or have lived within
one mile of an extraction site, oil and gas provide 34 percent of total electri-
cal generation in the United States, hundreds of thousands are employed by
the industry, in some states oil and natural gas heats more than 50 percent of
homes, it fuels millions of personal vehicles, and it is used in countless prod-
ucts daily (Fisk 2017). Yet, despite the central role that oil and gas extraction
ix