Boom Towns May Hinder Energy Resource Development

Has COVID‐19 made rural areas more attractive places to live? Survey evidence from Northwest Missouri

COVID‐19 disruptions encouraged some rural regions to think about proactively attracting newly footloose residents—but would the pandemic make rural areas seem more attractive to potential return migrants? Using econometric analysis of survey data, we find that for natives who had left the study region, attitudes about living in rural areas during COVID were lower on average than for those who stayed. Interestingly, we do find that owning a business and having a stronger sense of belonging are both associated with positive attitudinal shifts towards rural living, which has practical implications for rural migration policy.

Environmental Justice in Unconventional Oil and Natural Gas Drilling and Production: A Critical Review and Research Agenda

The drilling phase of oil and natural gas development is a growing area of environmental justice (EJ) research, particularly in the United States. Its emergence complements the longstanding EJ scholarship on later phases of the oil and gas commodity chain, such as pipeline transport, refining, and consumption. The growing scholarly attention to the EJ implications of drilling has been prompted by the surge in development of unconventional oil and gas resources in recent decades. More specifically, the oil and gas industry's adoption of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a., "fracking" or "fracing") as methods for extracting oil and gas from a wider range of geologic formations has simultaneously heightened oil and gas production, brought extractive activities closer to more people, intensified them, and made well pad siting more flexible. Here, we provide a critical review of the novel EJ research questions that are being prompted by these on-the-ground changes in extractive techniques and patterns, propose an interdisciplinary conceptual framework for guiding EJ inquiry in this context, discuss key methodological considerations, and propose a research agenda to motivate future inquiry.

The Intertwined Relationship between Power and Patriarchy: Examples from Resource Extractive Industries

This study examines the relationships between extractive industries, power and patriarchy, raising attention to the negative social and environmental impacts these relationships have had on communities globally. Wealth accumulation, gender and environment inequality have occurred for decades or more as a result of patriarchal structures, controlled by the few in power. The multiple indirect ways these concepts have evolved to function in modern day societies further complicates attempts to resolve them and transform the social and natural world towards a more sustainable model. Partly relying on queer ecology, this paper opens space for uncovering some hidden mechanisms of asserting power and patriarchal methods of domination in resource-extractive industries and impacted populations. I hypothesize that patriarchy and gender inequality have a substantial impact on power relations and control of resources, in particular within the energy industry. Based on examples from the literature used to illustrate these processes, patriarchy-imposed gender relations are embedded in communities with large resource extraction industries and have a substantial impact on power relations, especially relative to wealth accumulation. The paper ends with a call for researchers to consider these issues more deeply and conceptually in the development of case studies and empirical analysis.

Alcohol, violence, and a fast growing male population: exploring a risky-mix in "boomtown" Darwin

Boomtowns are places where populations grow rapidly, mostly as a result of large-scale natural resource developments. Increases in alcohol consumption and alcohol-fuelled violence are often linked to influxes of (predominantly male) workers associated with such developments. This article provides an integrated review of literature concerning alcohol and violence in boomtowns. The authors aim to understand the links between these issues and explore how negative impacts have been addressed. New learning from the review is considered in the context of Darwin, a newly booming city in Australia's Northern Territory. The authors find that although alcohol-related violence is likely to increase, there is limited literature concerning the prevention or mitigation of negative impacts in boomtown contexts. The need for research, planning, and policy making involving all stakeholders is highlighted.

Review of risks to communities from shale energy development

Although shale energy development can bring infusions of money and jobs to local communities, an array of risks to community-level assets and institutions is also possible. Sociological research dating back to the 1970s links rapid oil and gas development with overburdened municipal services, upended social and cultural patterns, and volatile economic growth. Research on technological risk has demonstrated communities can come to be associated with pollution and contamination, resulting in out-migration, declining amenity-led development, and decreased financial investment. Emerging shale energy case studies in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Texas show a similar, although nuanced, picture of these concerns. Yet, little data exists on the prevalence or magnitude of these risks in the current context of shale gas development. The existing research has largely remained case-based in nature, has not been synthesized across various disciplines, and has not been updated to account for various social and technological trends that have occurred since its publication. This paper offers a critical review of major research endeavors that inform our knowledge of risk to communities from shale energy development, while identifying gaps in our understanding of these risks and areas of research need.

Putting the spotlight on internally displaced animals (IDAs): a survey of primate sanctuaries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas

As anthropogenic activity makes deeper incursions into forests, fragmenting habitat, wildlife is forced into closer proximity to humans leading to increased incidences of human-wildlife conflict and wildlife displacement. These same incursions facilitate poaching for the commercial trade in dead and live animals. As a direct result, the number of sanctuaries and internally displaced animals (IDAs) in need of sanctuary placement and rehabilitation are increasing. We focus on internally displaced primates given the prevalence of primate-focused facilities and anthropomorphic considerations surrounding this taxonomic group. Surveys were distributed globally to map the extent and range of native primate sanctuaries and species. Over 70 facilities care for more than 6,000 native primates comprising 64 species, with almost half listed as endangered or critically endangered. As not all sanctuaries were identified at the time of the survey distribution, we estimate that the actual number of facilities is closer to double this number with a captive population in excess of 10,000 individual primates. Native primate sanctuaries hold significant numbers of primates in long-term captive care, with less than half (37%) identified as candidates for release. The surveyed sanctuary population accounts for 35% of the world's captive primates, as compared to ISIS-registered (where ISIS is International Species Information System) zoological facilities, although we estimate that the actual population is closer to 58%. For some species, the sanctuary population represents the only population in captivity. We discuss the prevalence of range-state sanctuaries and their primate populations, and issues surrounding their future development and management.

Chimpanzee chromosomes: retrotransposable compound repeat DNA organization (RCRO) and its influence on meiotic prophase and crossing-over

The terminal C-bands that are a specific feature of chimpanzee chromosomes were dissected using a molecular cytogenetic technique, PRINS, with primers for telomeric sequences, subterminal satellite, and retrotransposable elements (HERV-K and -W). These DNA elements jointly formed a large block of retrotransposable compound repeat DNA organization (RCRO) at the terminal C-band regions of 30 chromosomes, and are also located at the centromeric regions of some chromosomes. Additionally, a block consisting of all members of the RCRO has transposed to the middle (q31.1) of the long arm of chromosome 6, and three members, the subterminal satellite and the two HERVs, have integrated into the proximal region (q14.4) of the long arm of chromosome 14. Terminal RCROs seem to induce and prolong the bouquet stage in meiotic prophase, and to affect chiasma formation, together with interstitial RCROs. It is also postulated that RCROs may cause a position effect to gene expression, resulting in gene silencing and/or late replication.