CLOSUP publications

The Canadian province of Québec has the largest reserves of shale gas in Eastern Canada, but Québeckers are in the midst of a heated debate over the desirability of exploiting this resource. At issue is the controversial technique of hydraulic...

This report summarizes main findings of a comparative survey project, with a focus on explaining why attitudes toward fracking in Quebec are markedly different than in Pennsylvania and Michigan. The report is divided into three main parts. First the...

Given the large economic, environmental, and social implications from the issue of shale gas and the process to extract it of hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling (or “fracking” as it is commonly known), it is not surprising that...

Conventional wisdom holds that a carbon tax is a political non-starter. However, results from the latest version of the National Surveys on Energy and Environment (NSEE) provide evidence of substantial public support for a tax on the carbon content...

This report summarizes results from national-level surveys on public attitudes toward climate change administered in Canada and the US in Fall 2013. Since 2008, the National Surveys on Energy and Environment (formerly the National Surveys of...

The winter of 2014 took its toll on many aspects of life in the United States. From individual level costs such as increased heating expenses and disrupted work schedules to broad economic effects including strained public works budgets and slower...

This report reviews historical and current environmental problems in the Great Lakes and discusses attempts to address them through both joint (Canada-US) and unilateral policy. It then presents the results of a telephone survey of 1,247 residents...

This report outlines the status of wind energy policy and development in the Great Lakes Region, and compares this to public opinion on wind energy within the context of existing literature. The vast majority of residents within the Basin would like...

This report presents the views of people living within the Great Lakes Basin regarding hydraulic fracturing and shale gas drilling. Hydraulic fracturing, the injection of a fluid after drilling to crack open shale rock to release oil or gas, has...

In one of the most striking developments in recent years, the fracturing of shale deposits has transformed the U.S. energy economy by sharply increasing the supply of natural gas and lowering its cost. Shale fracturing, or fracking, also poses...

The first decade of the 2000s was a period of active and largely unanticipated state engagement in the development of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This triggered substantial social science literature that explored the drivers behind...

Natural gas extraction through high-volume hydraulic fracturing, often used with horizontal drilling (“fracking”), increased by 24 percent from 2006 to 2011, and is projected to grow unabated. One of the most promising sources of natural gas is the...

This report presents findings drawn from an April 2013 telephone survey conducted by the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (Muhlenberg Institute), in collaboration with the University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban...

This report presents the views of Michigan and Pennsylvania citizens on issues related to the extraction of natural gas through hydraulic fracturing (commonly known as “fracking”). The findings are drawn from an October and November 2012 telephone...

This report presents the views of American citizens on the existence of global warming, including their reasons for belief or disbelief, with particular attention on the role played by recent notable weather and climate events, including severe...

This report presents the views of American citizens on a range of issues linked to the possible development of federal and state policies intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This report responds to the evolving American debate over...