The Shale Revolution: Benefit or Curse?

According to Wyomingvideos: Timothy J. Considine, Professor of Economics & Finance. Director, Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy, School of Energy Resources, University of Wyoming

Dr. Considine shares insights from his research into the fracking of the Marcellus Shale gas deposits in Pennsylvania and what it reveals about the costs, concerns, and benefits of fracking, whether in Pennsylvania, Wyoming or elsewhere.

Considine spent the last four years studying the drilling of Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale formation, weighing the costs of production against the price of gas, the impacts on the people, forests, water and air above the formation against steps taken to mitigate such impacts. What does this new data and analysis reveal for future projects? 

Hydraulic fracturing and other production technologies have unlocked large reserves of oil and natural gas once considered too costly to produce. These new reserves could supply U.S. natural gas consumption for decades. But how to do this safely and profitably? 

Professor Tim Considine earned his PhD in in Natural Resource Economics from Cornell University in 1981, and went to work for the Congressional Budget Office and later the Bank of America as a environmental resources analyst. In 1986, he joined the Department of Energy, Environmental and Mineral Economics at Pennsylvania State University. In 2008, the University of Wyoming hired him away for its new School of Energy Research, where he now serves as the professor of Energy Economics and directs the Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy. 

Energy production and distribution is a complicated business, requiring a great deal of up-front investment before energy or profits are produced. Dr. Considine has focused his research on understanding the elements and dynamics of that relationship as well as the implications for public policy. His writings range from "The Value of Powder River Basin Coal to the U.S. Economy," for the Wyoming Mining Association to analyses of Carbon Permit Markets for the World Bank. Along the way he has worked on "The value of hurricane forecast information to energy producers in the Gulf of Mexico," tried his hand at forecasting California's energy development, investigated such topics as the economics of the American Steel industry, climate change impacts on energy consumption, and the benefits of America's strategic petroleum reserve.

Saturday U, Summer Winter Session 2013 was held January 25, 2013 at Gillette College. Saturday U is a collaborative program that connects popular UW professors with lifelong learners in Jackson, Gillette, and Sheridan. Offered twice a year in each community, Saturday U is sponsored by the university, the UW Foundation and Wyoming Humanities Council.