IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/weecfo/92810.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Influence of the Pace and Scale of Energy Development on Communities: Lessons from the Natural Gas Drilling Boom in the Rocky Mountains

Author

Listed:
  • Haefele, Michelle A.
  • Morton, Pete

Abstract

Both the number of oil and gas wells drilled annually2 (U.S. Department of Interior [U.S.D.I.], Bureau of Land Management 2009) and the number of producing natural gas wells3 (U.S. Department of Energy 2009) in the Rocky Mountain region4 more than doubled from 1998 to 2008. The proportion of U.S. natural gas production from the region increased from 16% in 1997 to 23% in 2007 (U. S. Department of Energy 2009) and the number of drilling rigs operating in the region grew from 131 in 2002 to 318 in 2009.5 This increase in natural gas drilling in the region has created boomtown conditions in several rural communities. While energy development can benefit rural communities, boomtowns in the Rockies experienced an influx of non-local workers, a rise in crime and emergency service calls, increased demand for public services, more wear and tear on local infrastructure, and upward pressure on local wages and housing costs. Natural gas prices had dropped dramatically by 2009, the drilling boom had subsided, and the bust phase may have begun (Figure 1). The recent energy boom-bust begs the question—how can communities learn from recent history to better take advantage of future energy development for both short-term and long-term benefits?

Suggested Citation

  • Haefele, Michelle A. & Morton, Pete, 2009. "The Influence of the Pace and Scale of Energy Development on Communities: Lessons from the Natural Gas Drilling Boom in the Rocky Mountains," Western Economics Forum, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 8(2), pages 1-13.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:weecfo:92810
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.92810
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/92810/files/0802001.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.92810?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kwang‐Koo Kim & David W. Marcouiller & Steven C. Deller, 2005. "Natural Amenities and Rural Development: Understanding Spatial and Distributional Attributes," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 273-297, June.
    2. McGranahan, David A., 1999. "Natural Amenities Drive Rural Population Change," Agricultural Economic Reports 33955, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Corey Young, 2023. "Employment and Income Effects of Investments Made Using the Act 13 Unconventional Natural Gas Impact Fee in Pennsylvania," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-11, May.
    2. Gwen Arnold & Meghan Klasic & Madline Schomburg & Abigail York & Melissa Baum & Maia Cherin & Sydney Cliff & Parisa Kavousi & Alexandria Tillett Miller & Diana Shajari & Yuer Wang & Luigi Zialcita, 2022. "Boom, bust, action! How communities can cope with boom‐bust cycles in unconventional oil and gas development," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 39(5), pages 541-569, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. M. Rose Olfert & Mark D. Partridge, 2010. "Best Practices in Twenty‐First‐Century Rural Development and Policy," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 147-164, June.
    2. repec:rri:wpaper:200906 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Wei-Bin Zhang, 2017. "Spatial Agglomeration And Economic Development With The Inclusion Of Interregional Tourism," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 62(213), pages 93-128, April - J.
    4. Elena G. Irwin & Andrew M. Isserman & Maureen Kilkenny & Mark D. Partridge, 2010. "A Century of Research on Rural Development and Regional Issues," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 92(2), pages 522-553.
    5. George W. Hammond & Eric C. Thompson, 2008. "Determinants of Income Growth in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Labor Markets," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(3), pages 783-793.
    6. Jinyang Deng & David Dyre, 2009. "Linking Tourism Resources and Local Economic Benefits: A Spatial Analysis in West Virginia," Working Papers Working Paper 2009-06, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.
    7. Sarah A. Low & Stephan Weiler, 2012. "Employment Risk, Returns, and Entrepreneurship," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 26(3), pages 238-251, August.
    8. Mark Ferguson & Kamar Ali & M. Rose Olfert & Mark Partridge, 2007. "Voting with Their Feet: Jobs versus Amenities," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 77-110, March.
    9. Marcela Suarez-Rubio & Scott Wilson & Peter Leimgruber & Todd Lookingbill, 2013. "Threshold Responses of Forest Birds to Landscape Changes around Exurban Development," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(6), pages 1-11, June.
    10. Poudyal, Neelam C. & Hodges, Donald G. & Cordell, H. Ken, 2008. "The role of natural resource amenities in attracting retirees: Implications for economic growth policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 240-248, December.
    11. Zhang, Wei-Bin, 2016. "Economic Globalization and Interregional Agglomeration in a Multi-Country and Multi-Regional Neoclassical Growth Model," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 34, pages 95-121.
    12. Hong, Junpyo, 2011. "The Role of Amenities in a Regional Economy: A Meta-Analysis Approach," Journal of Rural Development/Nongchon-Gyeongje, Korea Rural Economic Institute, vol. 34(5), pages 1-27, December.
    13. Waltert, Fabian & Schläpfer, Felix, 2010. "Landscape amenities and local development: A review of migration, regional economic and hedonic pricing studies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 141-152, December.
    14. Yong Chen & Elena G. Irwin & Ciriyam Jayaprakash, 2013. "Population Dispersion Vs. Concentration In A Two-Region Migration Model With Endogenous Natural Amenities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 256-273, May.
    15. Belal Fallah & Mark Partridge, 2007. "The elusive inequality-economic growth relationship: are there differences between cities and the countryside?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 41(2), pages 375-400, June.
    16. Mikaela Backman & Pia Nilsson, 2018. "The role of cultural heritage in attracting skilled individuals," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(1), pages 111-138, February.
    17. Anura Amarasinghe & Gerard D'Souza & Cheryl Brown & Tatiana Borisova, 2006. "A Spatial Analysis of Obesity in West Virginia," Working Papers Working Paper 2006-13, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.
    18. Anwar Hussain & Ian A. Munn & Jerry Brashier & W. Daryl Jones & James E. Henderson, 2013. "Capitalization of Hunting Lease Income into Northern Mississippi Forestland Values," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 89(1), pages 137-153.
    19. Shaun A. Golding & Richelle L. Winkler, 2020. "Tracking Urbanization and Exurbs: Migration Across the Rural–Urban Continuum, 1990–2016," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(5), pages 835-859, October.
    20. Lautrup, M. & Panduro, T.E. & Olsen, J.V. & Pedersen, M.F. & Jacobsen, J.B., 2023. "Is there more to trees than timber? Estimating the private amenity value of forests using a hedonic land model for combined agricultural properties," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    21. Harrison S. Campbell, 2021. "Income and cost of living: Are less equal places more costly?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2689-2705, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Resource /Energy Economics and Policy;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:weecfo:92810. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/waeaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.