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Fracking and environmental (in)justice in a Texas city

Author

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  • Fry, Matthew
  • Briggle, Adam
  • Kincaid, Jordan

Abstract

Shale gas development (SGD) via horizontal drilling and fracking is touted for economic benefits and spurned for health and environmental impacts. Despite SGD's socioecological salience, few peer-reviewed, empirical studies document the distribution of positive and negative effects. The City of Denton, Texas has ~280 active gas wells and over a decade of SGD. Here we use an environmental justice framework to analyze the distribution of SGD's costs and benefits within Denton. Using data on mineral property values from 2002 to 2013 and gas well locations, we ask: who owns Denton's mineral rights (i.e. the greatest financial beneficiaries) and how does this ownership pattern relate to who lives near gas wells (i.e. those who shoulder the nuisances and health impacts)? Our results show that Denton's mineral wealth is widely distributed around the U.S., residents own 1% of the total value extracted, and the city government is a large financial beneficiary. In addition to distributional inequities, our analysis demonstrates that split estate doctrine, legal deference to mineral owners, and SGD's uniqueness in urban centers create disparities in municipal SGD decision-making processes. The environmental justice issues associated with fracking in Denton also provide one possible explanation for residents' November 2014 vote to ban hydraulic fracturing.

Suggested Citation

  • Fry, Matthew & Briggle, Adam & Kincaid, Jordan, 2015. "Fracking and environmental (in)justice in a Texas city," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 97-107.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:117:y:2015:i:c:p:97-107
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.06.012
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    RePEc Biblio mentions

    As found on the RePEc Biblio, the curated bibliography for Economics:
    1. > Environmental and Natural Resource Economics > Environmental Economics > Environmental justice

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    Cited by:

    1. McCauley, Darren & Pettigrew, Kerry, 2023. "Building a just transition in asia-pacific: Four strategies for reducing fossil fuel dependence and investing in clean energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Evans, Neil & Jones, Calvin & Munday, Max & Song, Meng, 2019. "Economic effects in the UK periphery from unconventional gas development: Evidence from Wales," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1037-1046.
    3. Fry, Matthew & Brannstrom, Christian, 2017. "Emergent patterns and processes in urban hydrocarbon governance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 383-393.
    4. Christian Brannstrom & Mary Tilton & Andrew Klein & Wendy Jepson, 2015. "Spatial Distribution of Estimated Wind-Power Royalties in West Texas," Land, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Liuyang Yao & Dangchen Sui & Xiaotong Liu & Hui Fan, 2020. "The Psychological Process of Residents’ Acceptance of Local Shale Gas Exploitation in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-20, September.
    6. Seung Jin Cho & Brent Kreider & John V. Winters, 2023. "Resource booms, state economic conditions, and child food security," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(3), pages 1734-1752, September.
    7. Mehmet Soyer & Kylen Kaminski & Sebahattin Ziyanak, 2020. "Socio-Psychological Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Community Health and Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-9, February.
    8. Walsh, Kathryn Bills & Haggerty, Julia H., 2020. "Social license to operate during Wyoming's coalbed methane boom: Implications of private participation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    9. Loomis, John & Haefele, Michelle, 2017. "Quantifying Market and Non-market Benefits and Costs of Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States: A Summary of the Literature," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 160-167.
    10. Ericson, Sean J. & Kaffine, Daniel T. & Maniloff, Peter, 2020. "Costs of increasing oil and gas setbacks are initially modest but rise sharply," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    11. Maguire, Karen & Winters, John V., 2016. "Energy Boom and Gloom? Local Effects of Oil and Natural Gas Drilling on Subjective Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 9811, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Zwickl, Klara, 2019. "The demographics of fracking: A spatial analysis for four U.S. states," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 202-215.
    13. Karen Maguire & John V. Winters, 2017. "Energy Boom and Gloom? Local Effects of Oil and Natural Gas Drilling on Subjective Well†Being," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 590-610, December.
    14. Malin, Stephanie A. & Mayer, Adam & Hazboun, Shawn, 2023. "Whose future, whose security?: Unconventional oil and gas extraction and the economic vulnerability and forced participation of small-scale property owners," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).
    15. Evensen, Darrick & Demski, Christina & Becker, Sarah & Pidgeon, Nick, 2018. "The relationship between justice and acceptance of energy transition costs in the UK," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 451-459.
    16. Yasminah Beebeejaun, 2024. "Fracking and epistemic injustice: A feminist critique of knowledge formation," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 42(2), pages 250-267, March.
    17. Kroepsch, Adrianne C., 2018. "Horizontal drilling, changing patterns of extraction, and piecemeal participation: Urban hydrocarbon governance in Colorado," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 469-480.
    18. Cai, Zhengyu & Maguire, Karen & Winters, John V., 2019. "Who benefits from local oil and gas employment? Labor market composition in the oil and gas industry in Texas and the rest of the United States," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    19. Meng, Qingmin, 2018. "Fracking equity: A spatial justice analysis prototype," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 10-15.
    20. Harleman, Max & Weber, Jeremy G., 2017. "Natural resource ownership, financial gains, and governance: The case of unconventional gas development in the UK and the US," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 281-296.
    21. Carpenter, Angela & Wagner, Marcus, 2019. "Environmental justice in the oil refinery industry: A panel analysis across United States counties," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 101-109.
    22. Cameron T. Whitley, 2019. "Exploring the Place of Animals and Human–Animal Relationships in Hydraulic Fracturing Discourse," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-19, February.
    23. Roach, Travis, 2018. "Oklahoma earthquakes and the price of oil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 365-373.
    24. Onur Sapci, 2022. "The Impact of Shale Energy on Population Dynamics, Labor Migration, and Employment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-17, November.
    25. Evensen, Darrick & Stedman, Rich, 2017. "Beliefs about impacts matter little for attitudes on shale gas development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 10-21.

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