2015 Conference

Full Presentation Panel

Expansion of U.S. Energy Production—Greener or just Meaner?

Prof. Laura Stroup

The U.S. is now the world leader in production of natural gas, and is the number three producer of petroleum, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia.  Increasing the production of “domestic energy” has been a consistent goal through recent Presidential Administrations and Congressional Sessions.  As of 2013, the U.S. has become nearly fossil fuel self-sufficient, considering increases in this domestic production of natural gas and oil.  This is such a powerful and attractive notion on a national scale, to be independent of other countries’ pricing and security issues surrounding “foreign oil,” that one does not often hear views to the contrary.  The domestic boom of less-carbon intensive fossil fuels (compared to coal) has been due to the large scale development and expansion of both fracking (hydraulic fracturing) and horizontal drilling technology. From this technology, for which negative environmental externalities accrue to U.S. air and water supplies, effects are occurring largely in rural regions.  Rural citizens tend to be less wealthy and oftentimes less vocal and visible than their urban counter-parts.  I contend that although increased domestic energy production of fossil fuels may be a boon in terms of national security concerns, as fossil fuel production goes, the need to use fracking and horizontal drilling is concerning considering overall environmental impact.  The noted air and water externalities, from the ramp-up in domestic energy production, should be a more prominent part of the discussion of cleaner and increasingly carbon-free energy options in the U.S.  More extensive calculations of the costs and benefits from increasing domestic energy production, calls to mind the debate over whether eating locally is the sole consideration for more sustainable agriculture. Thereby, one should quantify the impacts of increased domestic energy production, beyond just miles traveled and security concerns, when considering the environmental footprint tradeoffs of the product produced.

Local Effects of Regulation on Global Pollutants: What health benefits can be attributed to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and who benefits?

Todd Metcalfe

Regulations to address global pollutants such as CO2 can impact electricity generation in a way that will have positive ancillary health benefits at the local level.  This study utilizes a unique panel data set that has monthly observations at the plant generator level to estimate that RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) provided approximately $50 million of average benefits yearly when both New York and New Jersey participated in the program.  New York receives an average of over $32.5 million of benefits yearly, and New Jersey received over $12.5 million of benefits while participating in the program.  There is a great variation in these benefits.  For example, the study estimates that Tompkins County in New York received over $10.5 million in benefits yearly, though some counties received no benefits.  The benefits from the change in exposure to these pollutants accrue differently by demographic group.  Unlike previous work, this study benefits from a high resolution data set with generation reported at the sub-plant plant level.  The study also benefits from variation introduced by New Jersey exiting RGGI after participating from 2009 to the end of 2011. 

RGGI requires fossil fuel electric power generators over 25 MW to purchase allowances for every ton of CO2 emitted from their operations.  Since electric generation with coal generates greater amounts of CO2 than gas does, and in the short run, the only way to reduce the amount of CO2 generated from combustion is to burn less coal, energy production from gas will be favored.  Since plants are not uniformly distributed, the location of energy production will change and alter the amount and distribution conventional pollutants such as SO2, NOX, and particulate matter (PM).

Pollution and Health Threats Associated with Oil and Gas Development in California

Tanja Srebotnjak, PhD

As new drilling and stimulation techniques, including hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), are heralded as the key to unlocking a new oil boom in California, there is mounting evidence that these technologies, and the expansion of oil and gas development that they enable, threaten public health. As California contemplates the safety of these technologies and necessary protections, it is important to identify the populations at risk. Our analysis examined the location of existing oil and gas wells in California in relation to population settlements and existing sources of environmental pollution. Our spatial analysis shows that approximately 5.4 million people (14 percent of the state's population) live within a mile of one, or more, of more than 84,000 existing oil and gas wells. More than a third of them (1.8 million) also live in areas most burdened by environmental pollution as identified by California EPA's tool (CalEnviroscreen 2.0). We also found that the impacted communities are predominantly non-White, including Latinos/Hispanics  (69 percent), African Americans (10 percent), and Asian Americans (11 percent). In total, people of color make up 92 percent of the 1.8 million people living within a mile of oil and gas development and in communities already heavily burdened by pollution.

Petcoke in an urban transnational environment: A community based participatory model

Mr. Nick Schroeck

In 2013, large piles of a refining by-product, petroleum coke (petcoke), appeared along the Detroit River. These piles caused concern from local residents and environmental groups in Detroit, MI and Windsor, Ontario. The Detroit petcoke is derived from refined tar sands oil. There is increasing concern over petcoke storage piles in urban environments which can lead to wind-mediated dispersion into the surrounding community. While petcoke has been accumulating in Detroit and other urban centers like Chicago, IL, little is known about the long-term impact that airborne petcoke particulate matter has upon human health, especially in relation to respiratory diseases. This presentation will discuss cross-disciplinary research related to petcoke that we are conducting at Wayne State University. Our project includes i) dialogue with affected populations in Detroit and Windsor and working collaboratively to assess the impacts of petcoke storage; ii) defining a chemical signature for petcoke and describe its urban distribution; and iii) utilizing modern approaches to identify novel biomarkers of petcoke exposure. These data are expected to have great significance to public health as more refineries begin processing greater amounts of heavy tar sands crude. We also aim to foster relationships between residents and the scientific community to gain a better understanding of community concerns related to petcoke and other industrial pollution. Our approach is innovative in that we are engaging the community in novel informal social mediums, and applying next-generation technologies to profile petcoke distribution in the environment and assay its impact on human health. We expect to develop effective community relationships and improve the communication of complex scientific findings using an iterative process, and then to re-apply this knowledge to future concerns raised by the community.