The Oil Shale Industry's Fortunes in an Era of Dramatic - and Puzzling! - Change

摘要

This talk will survey the changes in the world of energy in the last decade, with the goal of delivering a fresh perspective on the range of opportunities and obstacles, challenges and conundrums that face the oil shale industry. The practice of hydraulic fracturing for the development of unconventional oil and gas resources has captured the attention of the nation over this period, at once accelerating controversy over fossil fuel production and casting a spotlight on the difficulty confronted by every American claiming a stance of detachment, purity, and innocence in energy consumption. What might this mean for the oil shale industry? Returning to the Oil Shale Symposium after an absence of six years, historian Patty Limerick welcomes this opportunity to share her observations about the industry's recent experiences; reflect on the shifting configuration of optimism, pessimism, and practicality in public attitudes toward natural resources; and examine the dynamic world of federalism in Shale Country, as local, state, and federal jurisdictions compete for authority and legitimacy.