Living With Uncertainty: An Inside Energy Podcast Special
View on Inside Energy News website"'It’s the place where we’ve probably seen more conflict over oil and gas development than anywhere else in the country, that I’ve seen,' said Daniel Raimi, author of a new book, 'The Fracking Debate: The Risks, Benefits, and the Uncertainties of the Shale Revolution.' The benefits are often regional and national: 'The most obvious benefits are economic benefits, both for communities that have hosted oil and gas development and also for energy consumers, which is to say all of us,' said Raimi. The risks are typically much more local: 'The risks to water quality, the risks to human health, the risks associated with climate change and the risks associated with earthquakes…the sheer scale of the industry means that some people will be negatively affected,' said Raimi. So, how do regulators, lawmakers, and citizens balance the benefits and the risks when making decisions about development? 'It’s a very complicated calculation,' explained Raimi. 'It takes into account the economic potential, it takes into account the environment and health risk. It takes into account the local political environment and it takes into account the history of the character of a region.'"
