The CLOSUP Energy & Environmental Policy Initiative Fracking Project

Summary

Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as "fracking," and new horizontal drilling techniques are creating significant opportunities to expand natural gas production across the United States. However, the absence of comprehensive federal legislation regarding hydraulic fracturing has placed the regulation of unconventional gas drilling primarily within the purview of state and local governments.

To improve understanding of state and local policy issues related to fracking, CLOSUP launched a multi-faceted research project on the topic as part of the Center's Energy and Environmental Policy Initiative (EEPI). The CLOSUP Fracking Project began in the fall of 2012 with a public opinion survey on a wide range of issues related to hydraulic fracturing in Michigan and Pennsylvania, two states that share many things in common, but that have significantly different recent experiences with fracking.

The CLOSUP Fracking Project will include survey research, case studies, web-based information resources, events, policy reports, and more, with the goal of informing policy debate around the issue of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

See below for links to CLOSUP Fracking Project resources, including policy reports and additional web-based resources including a timeline covering the history and developments of hydraulic fracturing and a database of fracking-related legislation in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Most Recent Reports:

• Public Opinion on Hydraulic Fracturing in the Province of Quebec: A Comparison with Michigan and Pennsylvania (October 2014)


• Opportunity, Risk, and Public Acceptability: The Question of Shale Gas Exploitation in Québec (October 2014)


• Shale Governance in the European Union: Principles and Practice (October 2014)


• National Surveys on Energy and Environment: Public Perceptions of Shale Gas Extraction and Hydraulic Fracturing in New York and Pennsylvania (September 2014)


• Fracking as a community issue in Michigan (June 2014)
• View the report from CLOSUP's Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS)
• Note: In a June 14, 2014 blog at Energyindepth.org, the Independent Petroleum Association of America criticized this CLOSUP MPPS report and survey and made statements that are not supported by MPPS data. CLOSUP disputes IPAA's characterization of the MPPS findings. Read more here.


• Shale Gas and Hydraulic Fracturing in the Great Lakes Region: Current Issues and Public Opinion (April 2014)
• View the report

Additional Fracking Resources:

The timeline and database listed below were originally created as supplementary resources for the 2013 Issues in Energy and Environmental Policy report Public Opinion on Fracking: Perspectives from Michigan and Pennsylvania.

• Fracking Timeline
  This site contains an interactive timeline of hydraulic fracturing, including developments in Michigan & Pennsylvania.


• Recent Michigan & Pennsylvania Fracking Laws and Bills
  This database includes links to recent bills in both the Michigan & Pennsylvania legislatures on a range of issues related to hydraulic fracturing.


• Review of Policy Research: Conventional Politics for Unconventional Drilling? Lessons from Pennsylvania's Early Move into Fracking Policy Development
  This article by Barry Rabe and Christopher Borick examines the development of fracking within the state of Pennsylvania.

Recent CLOSUP Events on Fracking:

• Jan. 13, 2014: A Vote of No Confidence? Why Local Governments Take Action in Response to Shale Gas Development
• Dec. 4, 2013: Using information disclosure to achieve policy goals: How experience with the Toxics Release Inventory can inform action on shale gas fracking
  See the presentations from the event:




For more information on the CLOSUP Fracking Project, contact CLOSUP staff at 734-647-4091 or by email to closup@umich.edu.

EEPI Fracking Project Resources

• See the Energy & Environmental Policy Initiative home page
• See the National Surveys on Energy and Environment home page
• See the Fracking Project home page

Reports Public Opinion on Hydraulic Fracturing in the Province of Quebec: A Comparison with Michigan and Pennsylvania (October 2014) Opportunity, Risk, and Public Acceptability: The Question of Shale Gas Exploitation in Québec (October 2014) Shale Governance in the European Union: Principles and Practice (October 2014) More reports Fracking as a community issue in Michigan (June 2014) Shale Gas and Hydraulic Fracturing in the Great Lakes Region: Current Issues and Public Opinion (April 2014) State of the Debate: Natural Gas Fracking in New York's Marcellus Shale (January 2014) National Surveys on Energy and Environment: Public Opinion on Fracking: Perspectives from Michigan and Pennsylvania (May 2013) Fracking for Natural Gas: Public Opinion on State Policy Options (Nov. 2011)

Policy Points Videos Barry Rabe: Public opinion on fracking in Michigan & Pennsylvania (May 2013) More videos Barry Rabe: Mixed opinions on fracking (April 2012)

More on the Energy & Environmental Policy Initiative

• EEPI activities in the news, media, & blogs