Title Slide The Energy Revolution: Finding Powerful Stories

Everywhere Marilyn Geewax

NPR Senior Business Editor mgeewax@npr.org

@geewaxnpr

Geewax Marilyn

Akron  Beacon  Journal  

The  Atlanta  Journal-­‐Cons4tu4on  

Cox  Washington  Bureau  

NPR  

Geewax Marilyn

•  Currently senior business editor for NPR’s National Desk

•  She was the national economics correspondent for Cox Newspapers’ Washington Bureau.

•  Prior to 1999, worked for the Cox flagship paper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

•  Geewax earned a master’s degree at Georgetown University, where she focused on international economic affairs.

•  From 2001 to 2006, Geewax taught a business journalism class as an adjunct professor at George Washington University.

What We Will Explore Today

•  The Energy Revolution: Is It A Big Deal? •  So Really, What is Fracking? •  How Does This Affect Manufacturing? •  How Does The Revolution Create Jobs? •  Environmental Impact? Obstacles? •  How can you find local angles?

Oil and Gas Drilling Is Booming

Production Has Shot Up as Fracking Has Grown EIA data

U.S Output Is Growing as Consumption and Imports Decline

EIA Data

“Saudi America” Is Becoming an Exporter of Energy

EIA Data

The Change Has Come

Quickly EIA data

•  What's Happening in Texas

So How Does Fracking Work?

1) You need a lot of water 2) And you need a lot of steel pipe to drill

down as far as 10,000 feet. Let this ProPublica illustration explain… http://www.propublica.org/special/hydraulic-fracturing-

national

Natural Gas Consumption By End Users

EIA Data

Electric power Industrial Residential Commercial Lease and plant fuel Transportation (pipeline & vehicle fuel) & other

36% 28% 16% 11% 5 % 3%

Impact on Manufacturers Will Be Huge

•  Dramatically lower energy bills. •  Cheaper “feed stock” for making fertilizers

and bulk chemicals (ethylene). •  Cheaper transportation options.

Switch From Coal to Natural Gas Will Help Energy-Hungry Industries

Makers Of Steel And Other Metals Will Benefit

Dow Chemical Expands in Texas

Trucking Fleets and Railroads Are Switching To Natural Gas

Jobs Are Growing BLS says energy-production workers average $35.15 an hour

Fair To Say the Energy Sector is Creating A Lot Of Jobs

•  North Dakota is looking great, with 3.3 percent unemployment.

Oil rig in Williston, N.D., by Flickr user lindsey gee

Booming Oil Industry Struggling to Fill Job Openings

What Could Go Wrong?

•  Environmental Impact Is Just Too Negative •  Not As Much Gas And Oil As We Thought •  People Just Don’t Want It •  Other Countries Produce So Much, It Gets

Too Cheap

Many Worry That Fracking May Release Methane, Harm Ground Water and Trigger

Earthquakes

Some Skeptics Say Industry Is Over-Estimating the Potential

People In Many States Just Don't Want to Live Next to Fracking

Easy-to-Find Local Angles in TX, OH, PA,

ND, LA http://www.npr.org/2013/03/28/175483517/cheap-natural-gas-pumping-new-life-into-u-s-factories

But Stories Can Be Found Almost Everywhere, Even Maine

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=178651276&m=178651245