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Energy and Economic Narratives

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Abstract

This chapter introduces the reader to the concepts and ideas within the book. A real-world story of a Texas town voting on whether to allow natural gas drilling within its borders leads to defining the two types of narratives, those of energy and economics, that form the basis of the book. The competing energy narratives are those that promote fossil fuels versus those that promote renewable energy. The competing economic narratives are those whose worldviews center on technological optimism and the assumption of infinite substitutability of technology and human capability for physical resources versus those whose worldviews center on technological realism and the consideration of feedbacks from the finite Earth. Using these narratives for context, the chapter includes contemporary stories and debates that show how the narratives play out in media and the public sphere.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Gold, Russell. The Texas Well that Started a Revolution, Wall Street Journal, June 29, 2018, accessed June 29, 2018 at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-texas-well-that-started-a-revolution-1530270010.

  2. 2.

    State Impact Texas, https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/denton/.

  3. 3.

    For example, it is possible to have methane in groundwater, such that what comes out of your sink can be lit on fire, with no connection to oil and gas extraction. In some cases, groundwater flowing from sinks can be lit on fire without nearby fracking activity.

  4. 4.

    A 2018 study shows that “…that the shift in PW [produced water] disposal to nonproducing geologic zones related to low permeability unconventional reservoirs is a fundamental driver of induced seismicity.”[13]. A 2019 study concludes that “Our results suggest some earthquakes in west Texas are more likely due to hydraulic-fracturing than saltwater disposal.”[9]

  5. 5.

    TexNet Seismic Monitoring Program, http://www.beg.utexas.edu/texnet. “In its 84th and 85th legislative sessions, the Texas Legislature tasked the Bureau [Bureau of Economic Geology of the University of Texas, which functions as the State Geological Survey of Texas] with helping to locate and determine the origins of earthquakes in our state and, where possibly caused by human activity, with helping to prevent earthquakes from occurring in the future. The TexNet Seismic Monitoring Program was established to accomplish these goals.”

  6. 6.

    Terrence Henry, State Impact Texas, “Who’s Behind Denton’s Fracking Ban? Head Texas Regulator Thinks It Could Be Russia,” July 16, 2014, accessible April 10, 2018 at: https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2014/07/16/whos-behind-dentons-fracking-ban-head-texas-regulator-thinks-it-could-be-russia/ Smitherman’s letter at https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/1219669/denton-ltr-7-10-14.pdf.

  7. 7.

    Dallas Morning News: November 6, 2014, Craddick: Railroad Commission will continue permitting in Denton, not ruling out action against ban. Accessed February 4, 2017 at: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2014/11/06/craddick-railroad-commission-will-continue-permitting-in-denton-not-ruling-out-action-against-ban.

  8. 8.

    From Jim Malewitz, Texas Tribune online, November 5, 2014 article “Denton Bans Fracking, But Challenges Almost Certain,” available at https://www.texastribune.org/2014/11/05/denton-bans-fracking-spurring-bigger-clashes/.

  9. 9.

    Website of the Texas Railroad Commission, accessed February 4, 2017 at: http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/about-us/organization-activities/about-rrc/.

  10. 10.

    Barnett, Marissa (April 17, 2015) “Texas House approves so-called ‘Denton Fracking Ban’ bill.” Accessed April 19, 2015 at: https://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/17/texas-house-drill-denton-fracking-bill/. Malewitz, Jim (May 18, 2015) “Curbing Local Control, Abbott signs ‘Denton Fracking Bill’. ” Accessed May 24, 2017 at: https://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/18/abbott-signs-denton-fracking-bill/.

  11. 11.

    Elanor Dearman, Texas Tribune, October 6, 2015: https://www.texastribune.org/2015/10/06/denton-announces-renewable-energy-plan/.

  12. 12.

    Molly Evans, KERA News, February 6, 2018: http://keranews.org/post/denton-city-council-approves-energy-plan-be-all-renewable-2020.

  13. 13.

    Russel Ray, Power Engineering, September 21, 2016: https://www.power-eng.com/articles/2016/09/w-rtsil-engines-used-for-225-mw-power-plant-in-texas.html. The power plant is 225 MW of reciprocating natural gas engines.

  14. 14.

    Power to Choose website: http://www.powertochoose.org/. “Welcome to Power to Choose, the official and unbiased electric choice website of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. This website is available to all electric providers to list their offers for free. Compare offers and choose an array of electricity providers and plans.”

  15. 15.

    The “law of supply and demands” is notion that supply of goods (e.g., energy) and human demand for those goods are always equal, or matched. This of course is neither a physical nor political law, but one that economists use as rationale for interpreting the world.

  16. 16.

    Increasingly Stupid Movie Physics: http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/.

  17. 17.

    A soufflé is known as one of the most difficult pastries to master.

  18. 18.

    Collier [2, pp. 32–33].

  19. 19.

    Collier [2, pp. 32–33].

  20. 20.

    See Postface by Philip Mirowski [12].

  21. 21.

    Statement of John S. Steinhart attributing the quote to Kenneth Boulding in testimony to the U.S. Congress: United States. Congress. House (1973) Energy reorganization act of 1973: Hearings, Ninety-third Congress, first session, on H.R. 11510. p. 248. Viewable on January 12, 2018 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015001314395;view=1up;seq=249.

  22. 22.

    Free to Choose PBS series: http://www.freetochoose.tv/broadcasts/ftc80.php.

  23. 23.

    Book of Matthew, 7:7.

  24. 24.

    Topline results from the March 2017 poll, asking the question: “Hydraulic fracturing on public lands …(1) should be banned (strongly), (2) should be banned (somewhat), (3) no preference or undecided, (4) should be promoted (somewhat), or (5) should be promoted (strongly).” Formerly available at: http://www.utenergypoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Energy-Poll-Topline-Wave-12.pdf accessed May 31, 2017.

  25. 25.

    Here “developed world” refers largely to the richer countries such as the U.S., Western Europe, Japan, and others within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

  26. 26.

    I recognize that the Earth does have mass transfer to it from such objects as meteors, meteorites, and comets, and that humans now send mass from Earth into space in the form of satellites and capsules such as during the Apollo missions. However, these mass transfers to Earth are also not infinite. Further, this book refrains from speculating regarding our ability to harvest resources from space. In addition, taking one picture of the Earth from space does not prove that the Earth is geometrically finite because in theory the Earth could be extending infinitely into the distance behind its cross section. Since we’ve circled the Earth and taken pictures of the Earth from multiple vantage points, we’re sure of its near spherical shape.

  27. 27.

    Credit to my waitress Sarah A. at the Arvada, Colorado School House Kitchen & Libations (May 31, 2017).

  28. 28.

    Hoang Nguyen, YouGov (April 2, 2018), “Most flat earthers consider themselves very religious,” accessed April 7, 2018 at https://today.yougov.com/news/2018/04/02/most-flat-earthers-consider-themselves-religious/. Also see the 2018 film documentary Behind the Curve.

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  1. Energy Institute, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Carey W. King

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King, C.W. (2021). Energy and Economic Narratives. In: The Economic Superorganism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50295-9_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50295-9_1

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