Unpublished Paper
Asking the Right Questions About the Future of Shale Gas
Widener University Commonwealth Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series
(2016)
Abstract
This Article argues that the questions that have guided U.S. energy policy for decades — about how to assure cheap, plentiful, and secure energy with basic environmental and public health protection — are no longer the only relevant questions. This is particularly true after the December 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change Shale, in which countries unanimously agreed to progressively reduce their greenhouse gas emissions until there are net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of this century. Shale gas is used as a case in point. Shale gas development is justified on the basis that it contributes to some reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, that it produces needed energy, and that it has economic, social, and security benefits. This Article criticizes these questions as inadequate to address the Paris agreement and foster sustainable development, and describes and explains better questions.
Disciplines
Publication Date
January 21, 2016
Citation Information
John C. Dernbach. "Asking the Right Questions About the Future of Shale Gas" Widener University Commonwealth Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series (2016) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/john_dernbach/134/