Fracking Uncertainty: Hydraulic Fracturing and the Provincial Politics of Risk

Fracking Uncertainty explores the variation in Canadian provincial policy approaches to fracking, highlighting how risk narratives shape regulatory development and lead to different reforms.
Fracking, an unconventional extraction technique, has transformed global energy politics, with provincial policy approaches ranging from pro-development regulation to moratoria and outright bans. Heather Millar's Fracking Uncertainty examines case studies of regulatory development in British Columbia, Alberta, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, demonstrating how risk narratives foster distinctive forms of learning and lead to different reforms.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 262 pages
Publication date: 10 October 2024
Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is a controversial unconventional extraction technique used in the oil and gas industry that has significantly reshaped global energy politics. In her book Fracking Uncertainty, Heather Millar explores the diverse policy approaches taken by Canadian provinces towards fracking, ranging from pro-development regulations to moratoria and outright bans. Millar contends that while governments' desire to pursue economic benefits or mitigate environmental harms shape regulatory designs, policy makers' perceptions of these benefits and/or harms are influenced by socially constructed narratives about uncertainty and risk. Fracking Uncertainty provides detailed case studies of regulatory development in British Columbia, Alberta, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, drawing on media analysis and interviews with government officials, industry representatives, academics, and environmental advocates. Through these case studies, Millar demonstrates how risk narratives shape distinct learning processes in each province, leading to different regulatory reforms.

Weight: 360g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781487552695