MISSION

Colorado College's State of the Rockies Project encourages students to explore critical environmental and social challenges in the Rocky Mountain West.  Students embark on inter-disciplinary investigations around the region to discover the possibilities for balancing human activity without spoiling the natural environment.

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Green River, Utah
Photo by Olivia Rask '20

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Interested in being a 2021 Summer Rockies Fellow?

CLICK HERE to learn more about the State of the Rockies 2021 faculty-student research project and opportunity to be a fellow.

Rockies 2021 Project

Understanding Policy Debates on the Future of Hydraulic Fracturing and Abandoned Wells in the Rocky Mountain West

 

Countries around the world including the U.S. are facing a paradox of how to provide affordable reliable sources of energy, while minimizing negative impacts on the local and global environments. There is increasing evidence that climate change is occurring and has negative impacts on society, and one of its main human causes is the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) for energy. At the same time, burning fossil fuels has been an engine for economic development around the world. Thus, how energy is produced and consumed has complex repercussions for society.

Recently, the production of oil and natural gas in the U.S. reached record levels. The U.S. is now the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world. The key to this increase in production has been a combination of technological developments around fossil fuel extraction most prominently hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking). While hydraulic fracturing was first developed in the 1950’s its proliferation began in the 2000’s when it was connected with directional drilling, other technological developments, as well as increases in the price of oil and natural gas that helped make recovering the fossil fuels more profitable.

Today, hydraulic fracturing is used to drill for oil and gas in dozens of states in the U.S. The Rocky Mountain region has some of the most prolific drilling in the country as it includes multiple shale plays most prominently the Niobrara (Colorado and Wyoming) and Bakken (North Dakota and Montana) and other various basins or shale plays in Utah and New Mexico. It is widely credited with boom periods of production and economic growth in these states. While there are economic and even environmental benefits associated with hydraulic fracturing, there are also substantial environmental losses as well as public health risks. One of the growing problems caused by fracking is that in the wake of falling oil and gas prices in 2020, energy companies are going bankrupt and abandoning their wells. The clean-up and plugging of these wells become the responsibility of local and state governments. This has sparked policy debates and political battles in these states about how to best regulate or even allow hydraulic fracturing.

The purpose of this research is to better understand these policy debates about the future of hydraulic fracturing and abandoned wells in the Rocky Mountain West. In this first year, our goals are to: explore consequences of hydraulic fracturing and abandoned wells on people and their environments; explore how grassroots social and cultural ideas shape social movements and public policies related to hydraulic fracturing and abandoned wells; investigate social justice and environmental justice issues pertinent to hydraulic fracturing and abandoned wells; research the positive and negative economic impacts on communities relevant to this industry; and explore how the business strategies of oil and gas corporations change in response to social movements and public policies.

We are excited and pleased to collaborate with Jonathan Pierce on this project.  Jonathan J. Pierce,Ph.D. is the Vice-President of Safeguard Marine, LLC. He is the lead scientist and project manager on research projects seeking to mitigate risks posed by shipping on the marine environment. Dr. Pierce received a Ph.D. in Public Affairs from the School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado, Denver (CU Denver) in 2012. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in public policy and administration at CU Denver, the University of Denver, and Seattle University. His research interests examine the motivations and advocacy efforts of actors in the policy process applied to natural resource development. 

— Kat Miller-Stevens

Our Latest Investigations

 

Meet the 2020 Fellows

 

Rockies 2020 Fellows research adapts to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions

In response to the pandemic and the necessity of research being remote, we developed a project that all Fellows could work on together from wherever they were based for the summer. We decided to do an assessment of the climate policies being done by the states and major cities of the region. The goals were to 1) assess what is being done in the region to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 2) set a baseline to be able to see if the Coronavirus recession impacts climate policies, and 3) evaluate if climate equity was incorporated into these policies. Rather than the individual, interview and field-based research that Fellows usually do, this project entailed the Fellows working together to conduct extensive content analysis of existing policies and government documents from the safety of their homes.

Leah Barazani is a senior from Maplewood, New Jersey. She is an. environmental studies major interested in urban studies, environmental justice, and farming! In her free time she likes to bake bread and listen to music. She'll be conducting her research from her home in New Jersey for the summer and she is looking forward to spending time with the other Fellows (hopefully) in the fall!

 

  

Emma Locke is a senior from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is an environmental studies major interested in urban planning, green buildings, and environmental justice. In her free time, Emma enjoys trail running, cooking, and walking with her dogs. She is very excited for the opportunity to be a State of the Rockies fellow and looking forward to spending the summer in Colorado Springs.

 

Matthew Luzincourt is a senior from Wheatley Heights, New York. He is majoring in Organismal Biology and Ecology, minoring in Environmental Issues, and is the co-chair of the CC QuestBridge Scholars Network. In his spare time, he loves to hike, paint, and watch Animal Planet. Matt is excited to explore questions concerning urban energy systems and urban climate policy this summer!

 

Gracia Seeley is a junior from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is double majoring in Political Science and Environmental Studies, and is excited to study the intersection of the two as a State of the Rockies Fellow. On campus, Gracia works at the Innovation Center, plays intramural sports and is involved on various student action groups like JStreet and Planned Parenthood Generation Action. She likes spending her free time outside and with friends, whether skiing, painting, or just lounging in the sunshine.  

 

Hi, and thank you for visiting the State of the Rockies website! My name is Maddy Unger and I am an Environmental Studies Major/ Urban Studies Minor from Baltimore, Maryland. During my three years here in Colorado, I have grown increasingly interested in the changing landscape of the rural West, and the impact that agritourism and ecotourism has on agriculture, ranching and mining based economies. I am looking forward to exploring questions related to economic transitions, place-based relationships and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the North Fork Valley this summer. In my free time you can find me gardening, hiking and having social-distancing bonfires with friends.

 

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Rockies 2020 Fellows report on Subnational Climate Action at the 2020 Virtual CC SCORE conference

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