Doctoral Dissertation Research: Uneven Development and Perspectives on the Environment

博士论文研究：发展不平衡与环境展望

• 批准号: 1628183
• 负责人: Jerry Jacka
• 金额: $ 2.47万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-01 至 2018-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1628183&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Uneven; Development

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.

页岩气探索和通过液压压裂和水平钻孔提取，已成为美国能源供应的主要组成部分。社会科学家已经记录了有时伴随这些实践的综合争议和当地抵抗，以及呼吁更可持续和环境良性良性的能源形式的运动。但是，对有利于石油开发的社区的关注更少。 这是该奖项支持的研究的主题，该奖项将由科罗拉多大学博士生Gregorio Ortiz在人类学家Jerry K. Jacka博士的监督下进行。研究人员问：支持压裂的社区如何与环境论述进行反对？这些社区中的人们如何理解他们在环境话语中的地位，这些概念是否受到对提取性发展的支持？ 反过来，当地的提取性发展是否受到当地社区的感觉的影响？这项研究的结果将填补对资源提取的社会和环境影响的科学理解的关键空白。该研究将围绕南德克萨斯州的Eagle Ford页岩的持续发展进行。该地区是一个适当的地点，因为它具有石油发展和自然环境挑战（例如干旱）的悠久历史。 1970年代和1980年代的石油繁荣影响了该地区最近的历史，尽管它并不总是导致基础设施发展，也没有改善生计。因此，随后的资源“破产”以复杂的方式影响了当地的生计，这使得当地居民为何支持进一步的石油开发的研究特别有趣。奥尔蒂斯（Ortiz）将重点关注德克萨斯州南部里奥格兰德发展局（Rio Grande）政府委员会的社区。他将使用从档案研究开始的社会科学方法的混合；对政府和非政府的地方和州代表进行了半结构化访谈，他们的工作与石油行业有关；以及参与者对石油行业工人的访谈。然后，他将在两个当地社区中进行深入的民族志，参与者的观察和调查。数据收集活动将包括访谈，焦点小组以及本地土地和资源映射。研究人员将强调环境关注的行为和不为发展政策和项目提供信息，以及自鹰福德页岩开始开发以来，对环境的看法是否发生了变化。 这项研究的发现将有助于发展有关发展，能源和环境判断之间关系的更完整的社会科学理论。调查结果还可能为发展社区的能源政策的发展提供信息。