Paper details
This week, you should read this brocheure from the U.S. Department (please go to the following link to access brochure http://energy.gov/fe/downloads/natural-gas-shale-questions-and-answers) Throughout the week, we will have a debate-style exchange of essays and comments in which we explore the complex answers to the following question:
In order to achieve sustainability, how should we regulate natural gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale?
In this debate, you will each be assigned one of three perspectives. You will find these perspectives on the Teams page.
Ecology (conservation, environmental protection, environmental justice)
Economy (economic growth, profit, efficiency)
Equity (social justice, economic opportunity, income equality)
Each of these three perspectives is an important component of Sustainability, and they can be interpreted in many ways. Your job is to draw on course materials and external sources that you research in order to make your arguments about how the Marcellus Shale should be regulated, from your assigned perspective.
Many of you may also have intimate personal experience with the natural gas industry and/or the Marcellus Shale. This knowledge is very valuable, and you are welcome to draw on it in your arguments (in addition to citing course material and external sources!).
However, though you may draw on your personal knowledge and perspective, it is important to note that the assignment is not to argue the perspective that you personally believe in. Rather, you should try to make the strongest argument you can on behalf of your assigned perspective, even if you don’t completely agree with it. It can be a great learning exercise to try to argue a position that you don’t agree with, because it forces you to think carefully about the perspectives of others. You also might want to familiarize yourself with these issues in light of the upcoming elections in Pennsylvania, where a potential severance tax on the oil and gas industry is causing a heated debate. Through out this process, you might even find yourself changing your mind, or coming to a more nuanced position! For example, if you currently believe that we should implement a ban on all drilling in the Marcellus Shale, and you get assigned to an Equity perspective, then you might choose to argue on behalf of drilling as a form of job creation. Or, if you currently believe that we ought to extract natural gas with minimal regulation, and you are asssigned to an Ecology perspective, you might choose to argue that we should tax the extraction of natural gas and invest the tax proceeds in wind energy. With issues that are as complicated as these, and with so many different stakeholders to consider, it is worth trying to view the situation from as many perspectives as possible when trying to reach an informed solution. There are so many options, so be creative and explore positions you are less familiar with!
Essays must be at least 500 words in length, must (correctly) cite at least two assigned course materials, must (correctly) cite at least one external source, and must engage the required components for that round of the debate (see below).
Essay 1
In this essay, you will state your position, which must include the following components:
What regulation should apply to extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale.
Who should decide whether and how to drill.
Whose interests should take priority.
Why does this form of regulation help us acheive sustainability.
Cites at least two assigned course materials and at least one external source
You may comment on each others’ essays, however, remember to be respectful in your comments to each other.
Essay 2
In this second essay, you may stick to the argument made in Round 1, or you may modify your position, but you must include the following components:
How are you defining sustainability.
Whose interests should take priority, and at what scale (local, state, national, global).
How and why do you agree/disagree with your classmates’ comments and essays.
How does your plan for regulating the Marcellus Shale help us achieve your definition of sustainability.
Cites at least two assigned course materials and at least one external source
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