Uncertainty and trustworthiness in discussions of fracking: Exploring the views of academic scientists and local governmental representatives

• Published in: The extractive industries and society Vol. 6; no. 4; pp. 1113 - 1121
• Main Author: Edwards, Michelle L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2019
• Subjects: Energy development; Fracking; Risk assessment; Social science; Uncertainty; Fracking; Uncertainty; Energy development; Social science; Risk assessment
• ISSN: 2214-790X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.exis.2019.10.012

Hydraulic fracturing has transformed how unconventional natural gas and oil resources are extracted across the globe, with much disagreement over its potential environmental impacts, as well as the likelihood of those impacts. Using in-depth interviews, this study examines the views of two stakeholder groups, academic scientists and local governmental representatives, who have been involved in the debate over hydraulic fracturing in Texas’s Dallas-Fort Worth region, fracking’s modern-day birthplace. I explore how individuals within these two groups discuss uncertainty, and how they think their uncertainty framing impacts the public’s perceptions of them. In addition, this study adds to previous research on how expert groups frame uncertainty by integrating Wynne’s (1992) expanded typology of uncertainty, which includes the concepts of risk, uncertainty, ignorance, and indeterminacy.