BRIEFING NOTICE
The Shale Gas Debate:
How Industry and Environmental Messages Stack Up
December 6, 2013
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
188 Russell Senate Office Building
Resources for the Future (RFF) invites you to a briefing on how messaging
from the shale gas industry and environmental organizations affects the
public’s attitudes toward shale gas development.
Recently, US Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell called upon
industry to provide better information to the public about the fracking
process. She said the public debate is “confused” and “not well-informed,”
stating that industry is responsible for making sure “that the public
understand what [fracking] is, how it’s done, and why it’s safe.” Industry has
also recognized the need to raise the public’s comfort level, especially in
states such as Colorado, where three cities recently approved bans or
moratoriums on hydraulic fracturing. New research at RFF shows that industry
will need to provide not just more information, but better information if it is
to improve public confidence.
This briefing will examine survey results about the public’s level of
concern regarding the potential environmental and health risks associated with
shale gas development, and how much people value reducing such risks—how much
they are willing to pay in increased taxes, utility bills, and so on to reduce
those risks. The briefing will also show how different sources of information
(industry and environmental) affect people’s attitudes and beliefs about shale
gas development in their states.
This briefing is based on a new survey conducted by RFF researchers of a
random sample of individuals in Pennsylvania, where residents are still
adjusting to the boom in shale gas development and drilling in their state, and
in Texas, where residents are more accustomed to these types of energy
development activities.
Speakers for this briefing:
[PDF - 150KB]