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Introducing the Politics of Oil and Gas Development
From those concerned primarily with its forms and expression, to those more concerned with how the governing authority ebbs and flows, scholars have long concerned themselves with the concept, vicissitudes, and displays of political power (Agranoff and McGuire 2001; Bachrach and Baratz 1962). They have also concerned themselves with how power dynamics are at the core of many contemporary intergovernmental challenges. They are evident, for example, when one unit of government compels or restricts anotherâs agenda, during an intergovernmental lawsuit, or when one government lobbies another (Cobb and Elder 1972; Schneider, Jacoby, and Lewis 2011). Questions about power are often evident when a level of government challenges another. Intergovernmental power, as it relates to states and local governments, even when it favors the states, however, is often shared, uncertain, and ephemeral (Long 1949). Anton (1989) adds that because it is split among many stakeholders, tensions and contests are inevitable (Bowman and Kearney 2012, 2011; 2010; Stephens 1974).
Such power dynamism is evident in the actions, goals, resources, processes, symbols, and intergovernmental strategies acted upon or utilized by the actors participating in the fracking-fueled oil and natural gas debate (Betsill and Rabe 2009; Bosso 2005; Davis 2014; Hempel 2009; Lowry 1991; Opp and Saunders 2013; Rabe 2010, 2006, 2004; Stoker 1998; Vig and Kraft 2009; Walker 1995). On one hand, the âfrackingâ debate involves questions over whether oil and gas production is harmful or beneficial. On the other hand, it also goes to a fundamental âplaceâ within the American intergovernmental system and forces stake-holders to consider difficult questions about property rights and local democracy. In other words, the âboomâ has also led to more traditional ones about governance. Who governs? Who should govern? How do they govern? What do they govern? Are there more effective forms of regulation that can assuage the reasonable fears of impacted populations while protecting private property rights, economic growth opportunities, and the jobs created by domestic production? The answers to these questions are critically important, as both states and local governments are needed to meaningfully address contemporary environmental challenges.
The federal government has taken the regulatory lead on issues such as railroads, railcar safety, federal lands management, and interstate oil and gas pipelines. Yet, for many of the core issues of oil and gas, the absence of the federal regulation has enabled a vigorous state-local federalism to emerge. Subnational governments are responsible for managing the placement of wells, infrastructure, the technical aspects of drilling, managing potential impacts to the environment, site security, and emergency management. They are also in charge of addressing many of the quality of life impacts caused by oil and gas production. As a result, such subnational policymakers are the primary recipients of the economic rewards of oil and natural gas and also experience the costs of production firsthand.
With the recent advances in drilling and production practices, the stakes for state and local governments have become even higher as unconventional oil and gas extraction is now taking place in more densely populated suburban and urban communities. In many cases, the economic goals of states and their cities have aligned to favor oil and gas development. This is the case for many cities across the United States. Yet, examples of local defiance are evident from California to New York, although the triggering factors appear to be different. In short, the costs and benefits of the âboomâ have strained the intergovernmental system, lead to acts of local defiance, and call for new and inventive approaches to managing oil and gas production.
This project attempts to understand local defiance and decision-making in the context of the highly fragmented system that governs fracking and oil and gas production (Fisk 2016; McAdam and Boudet 2012). Although local defiance is certainly not the preferred pathway of most local governments, it is and has been an option pursued by a small group of communities. To improve the intergovernmental management of oil and gas production, this project examines local defiance in Colorado, Ohio, and Texas with a three-part process:
- The applicable state rules, policies, and judicial interpretations of state-local relationships in three different states
- Specific state factors and implications such as the distribution of costs and the location of reserves/production
- The local experiences as they relate to oil and gas development and how such experiences have impacted state-local relationships
These states represent three different sets of oil and gas experiences, geographical regions, and political leanings. Additionally, each of these states has examples of intergovernmental tension but has also experimented with inventive policy prescriptions. In short, by incorporating three divergent states, the factors associated with defiance become more generalizable and the lessons learned from them become more transferable to other jurisdictions.
Locating and then explicating the sources of intergovernmental tension are important first steps. Once accomplished, the second and more difficult challenge is to then identify more optimal governing arrangements. Solutions must fit within the fragmented regulatory system that governs oil and gas production. And, they must incorporate the strengths of both state and local levels of government as each brings significant pieces to the regulatory puzzle. Through leveraging each otherâs strengths, policy-makers may design more effective, strategic, and efficient forms of environmental governance.
The Basics of Production and Fracking
Since 1946, operators have vertically drilled and then fracked more than one million oil and natural gas wells, most with little fanfare and few cases of contamination (American Petroleum Institute 2014). Since the mid-2000s, technological advances in the extraction processes, drilling, and the proprietary chemicals used by operators set the stage for the oil and gas boom...
