A Field Philosopher's Guide to Fracking
How One Texas Town Stood Up to Big Oil and Gas
-
- $22.99
Publisher Description
Winner of the Writers' League of Texas Book Awards
Finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
From the front lines of the fracking debate, a “field philosopher” explores one of our most divisive technologies.
When philosophy professor Adam Briggle moved to Denton, Texas, he had never heard of fracking. Only five years later he would successfully lead a citizens' initiative to ban hydraulic fracturing in Denton—the first Texas town to challenge the oil and gas industry. On his journey to learn about fracking and its effects, he leaped from the ivory tower into the fray.
In beautifully narrated chapters, Briggle brings us to town hall debates and neighborhood meetings where citizens wrestle with issues few fully understand. Is fracking safe? How does it affect the local economy? Why are bakeries prohibited in neighborhoods while gas wells are permitted next to playgrounds? In his quest for answers Briggle meets people like Cathy McMullen. Her neighbors’ cows asphyxiated after drinking fracking fluids, and her orchard was razed to make way for a pipeline. Cathy did not consent to drilling, but those who profited lived far out of harm’s way.
Briggle's first instinct was to think about fracking—deeply. Drawing on philosophers from Socrates to Kant, but also on conversations with engineers, legislators, and industry representatives, he develops a simple theory to evaluate fracking: we should give those at risk to harm a stake in the decisions we make, and we should monitor for and correct any problems that arise. Finding this regulatory process short-circuited, with government and industry alike turning a blind eye to symptoms like earthquakes and nosebleeds, Briggle decides to take action.
Though our field philosopher is initially out of his element—joining fierce activists like "Texas Sharon," once called the "worst enemy" of the oil and gas industry—his story culminates in an underdog victory for Denton, now nationally recognized as a beacon for citizens' rights at the epicenter of the fracking revolution.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Briggle, a philosophy professor at the University of North Texas, had never heard of fracking until he moved to Denton, Tex., in 2009. But he soon learned that there are 250 gas wells in Denton alone, "that fracking had sparked a global energy revolution," and that it had become a "contentious political issue." In this blunt yet hopeful chronology, Briggle confers with scientists, engineers, policy makers, and fellow citizens to gain a broad overview of fracking. Known technically as hydraulic fracturing, the process involves blasting rock formations with sand, water, and chemicals in order to extract oil and gas. Briggle details its negative effects on the environment and the health risks it poses to surrounding communities. He works on a grassroots level as well to ban fracking in Denton itself, helping to establish the Denton Stakeholder Drilling Advisory Group, whose campaign efforts and accomplishments form a chunk of the narrative. And because positions on fracking don't neatly map onto traditional American political notions of left and right, Briggle delineates the competing worldviews of those he dubs "precautionaries" and "proactionaries." Briggle's philosophical framing of the conversation sets his work apart and helps provide further insight on this divisive topic.
