Tyndall Manchester would like to invite you to attend the next talk in our seminar series “Can fracking be fair?” by Dr. Matthew Cotton on Thursday 26^th October (room C21, Pariser Building, Sackville Street) at 1.00pm. 

Can fracking be fair?

Dr. Matthew Cotton, University of York

The development of unconventional fossil fuels using hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques raises issues of environmental and public health risks to water management, climate change, traffic congestions, air, noise and light pollution, and seismic activity. It also has the potential to create technological stigmatisation, identity disruption and social decline in the communities it affects. Such impacts are unevenly distributed between host communities, land-owners, and fracking developers; alongside uneven decision-making powers and unequal economic benefits. This seminar discusses the distributive and procedural justice dimensions of fracking in the United Kingdom, drawing upon empirical and normative philosophical work on fracking justice. I examine the discourses of fracking threat and opportunity, recent developments relating to regulatory systems and institutional arrangements, changes to the powers of local authorities and the adequacy of industry-led community compensation and consultation processes with recommendations for future policy directions.

Speaker bio

Matthew Cotton is a Lecturer in Human Geography in the Environment Department at the University of York. His research examines issues of ethics and environmental/energy justice in relation to major infrastructure projects, with a focus on shale gas development, nuclear power and radioactive waste management and electricity transmission systems.

The seminar will take place in room C21, in the Pariser Building on Sackville Street– number 12 on the map here http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/maps/interactive-map/?id=9