Tonight in class we discussed in breakout groups some of the ways that states exert control over corporations. The class was a great opportunity to clarify some of the concepts introduced by Jackson in his soliloquy and furthered mentioned in the five tedious readings for the module. Two recent articles in the Wall Street Journal demonstrate how government regulation of fracking is playing out in the United States and Germany.
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/north-dakota-fracking-behind-the-oil-train-explosions-1404761720-lMyQjAxMTA0MDAwODEwNDgyWj
The first article describes how in North Dakota's Bakken Shale oil field, nobody installed the necessary equipment to make volatile crude oil safer to handle. Oil tapped from shale is generally more volatile than traditional crude oil. The volatility makes it a safety hazard to transport by train. Last year a crude-by-rail accident in Quebec killed 47 people. Several energy corporations considered building stabilizers to remove the most volatile gases before transport, but ultimately declined the option. Robert Hall, a National Safety Transportation Board member, says the decision on whether to stabilize is driven by commercial considerations. "The regulations are silent," he says.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/germanys-fracking-follies-1404771522?tesla=y&mod=djemMER_h&mg=reno64-wsj
In July 7's WSJ, the short article discusses how even with the Ukraine crisis and the German dependency on Russian energy resources, the German Environment Minister, Barbara Hendricks, announced that most forms of hydraulic tracking will be banned until 2021. Germany imports 90% of its gas supply, and it has up to 2.3 trillion cubic meters of domestic shale gas. Chancellor Angela Merkel has not yet weighed in on the issue.
The two articles highlight what Kristin mentioned in class as the ongoing push and pull between governments and corporations.
Thanks for sharing the articles, Mike. Illinois has also been grappling with fracking regulations for the past couple years. In March of this year, voters in Southern Illinois were given the option to vote against fracking in their town, however, the measure failed partially due to low voter turnout and, quite simply, a misunderstanding of what the legislation would do. It’s disappointing to see a measure fail at the hands of voters that could have limited a tiny portion of the enormous amount of power these oil companies wield. I anticipate their influence to only increase as our dependence on oil persists.
ReplyDelete