Energy Security, International Investment, and Democracy in the US Shale Oil & Gas Industry
FracTracker’s Ted Auch coauthored a recent article in the journal Democracy & Security that considers the US shale oil and gas industry through a national security lens.
This paper was authored by Bryan T. Stinchfield , Ted Auch & Eve Bratman.
Article Abstract
Proponents of the US shale oil and gas industry argued that American citizens’ economic prosperity and national security were at stake if the industry was not rapidly expanded. Following copious amounts of a certain type of “patriotic” rhetoric, the industry grew rapidly. Simultaneously, foreign ownership of US shale industry infrastructure occurred in tandem with calls for new policies and laws to limit US citizens’ democratic rights with regard to the industry’s activities. As a result, we argue that the development of the US shale industry has weakened national security by creating negative security externalities and eroding democratic values. We offer implications for other democratic societies rich in natural resources.
Figure 1. Vicious cycle within the US shale industry.
The intent of some of the industry’s proponents is to criminalize protest, peaceful and otherwise. When peaceful protests are intentionally lumped in with not-peaceful protests, the effect is a weakening of democracy.
Energy Security, International Investment, and Democracy: The Case of the United States Shale Oil and Gas Industry
Bryan T. Stinchfield , Ted Auch & Eve Bratman
To cite this article: Bryan T. Stinchfield , Ted Auch & Eve Bratman (2020): Energy Security, International Investment, and Democracy: The Case of the United States Shale Oil and Gas Industry, Democracy and Security, DOI: 10.1080/17419166.2020.1811969
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17419166.2020.1811969
