Madeleine Smith: Web Resources

Important Web Resources

1. FracFocus.org- FracFocus is a comprehensive resource with state-by-state and well-by-well information on fracking.  The site is the first of its kind and provides a user-friendly way to find information about fracking close to home for many concerned citizens across the country.  Additionally FracFocus provides many links to helpful external sites sending interested users to diverse information.

2. https://www.coga.org/ -The Colorado Oil and Gas Association is one of the primary governmental resources for information about energy in Colorado.  The site provides a great deal of information about political facts and figures with sections on how to take action, state representatives, energy facts and topics as well as answers to common myths and much more.  COGA also provides ways to touch base with people outside of the political realm with links to blogs and social media sites to enhance communication across parties.

3. http://stateimpact.npr.org - StateImpact is a website run as a reporting project of National Public Radio (NPR) that provides many articles concentrated on the energy and environmental aspects of fracking in Pennsylvania.  Specifically the site contains a great deal of information on the Marcellus Shale including maps, statistics and overviews, and addresses of current issues presented in a clear, concise manner that is easy to use. The website http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/drilling/ provides a particularly helpful overview of the Pennsylvania fracking scene.

4.  http://naturalgas.org/index.asp - Naturalgas.org provides an excellent overview of the fracking industry and its most important considerations from a business perspective.  The site provides an extremely detailed history and modern fracking concerns, as well as potential costs and benefits from an economic point of view.  Looking at fracking through this economic lens is much different from any other site dedicated solely to natural gas energy.

5. https://www.propublica.org/series/fracking - ProPublica, a self-proclaimed public interest journalism site focusing on science, provides fracking research and a series of articles provides a detailed analysis of many different aspects of the fracking industry.  This site is unique in that it provides information on taxation, regulation, inspection, landowner experiences, field work and company perspectives.  ProPublic is slightly biased as an anti-fracking site, but does a good job explaining both sides and using creative resources like videos to go into enough depth to be informative but not overwhelming.

6. https://www.fractracker.org/ FracTracker approaches the fracking industry from a unique perspective by trying to hone in on data and stories provided by affected people.  The site takes these data and tries to analyze and compare them to national data acting as both a resource and a watchdog.  There is a large amount of information on the site that may take a while to sift through and some links are not up-to-date, but overall the website does a good job of painting a complete and honest picture of fracking across the country.

Additional Useful Websites

1.     https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-tackle-fracking-your-community

2.     https://cleanwater.org/

3.     https://www.ncsl.org/research/energy/taxing-natural-gas-production

4.     https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/

5.     https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/problems/fracking

6.     https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/

7.     https://earthjustice.org/advocacy-campaigns/unfracktured