Assignment - Interest Groups, Energy and the Environment

Fracking is a hot topic in Texas and nationally. Fracking is a way to extract oil and

Gas from shale in very hard to reach locations. The process has allowed us to find and utilize more oil and gas, helping the country gain energy independence. However, the process has high costs to residents and the environment. Texas, with its desire for a good business climate, does not have or does not enforce environmental regulations to the extent of other states. What voters need to do is consider the pros and cons to this policy environment and the type of quality of life realities it creates, in this case, policy on fracking.

Denton, TX, was the first municipality to vote to ban fracking in the area.

However, the oil and gas industry interest groups sued, and Govt. Abbott responded in support of the groups and claims that local government do not have authority to do something like this. The Texas Railroad Commission, too, says he will not honor the vote.

Read the Weather Channel's report below. The Weather Channel conducted an 8-month investigation into citizen's complaints in the Eagle Ford Shale Region.

The videos are optional. While you are reading, consider all the political actors in the story and their perspectives about the pros and cons to fracking.

Answer the questions below and copy them into Eagle Online. Eagle Online will have other sites that provide some background information on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality(TCEQ) and the Railroad Commission.

1. What are the political options for Texas residents to challenge the government and Big Oil companies to improve their air quality and environment? What are some of the experiences mentioned in the article and have they been successful -explain two? Why/not?

2. What is the role (what is it supposed to do) of the Commission in this situation? Explain at least two instances where politics

Interferes into the TCEQ's ability to perform its role legitimately.

Are the politics involved in the TCEQ or Railroad Commission a problem? Why/not?

3. Chapter Six covers what interest groups do and how they do it -the methods interest groups employ to further their political interests. Chapter Eight covers how the bureaucracy relates to interest groups and other government branches.

4. How have the oil companies and industry interest groups furthered their political interests, as mentioned in the report -provide three examples? Consider the residents, the Texas bureaucracy, and all three branches of government.

5. Does the oil industry interest groups' political power endanger democracy in Texas? Why/not? What is the cost benefit analysis of their political power?