Unfracked

Richard Buttny is professor emeritus of communication & rhetorical studies at Syracuse University. He is the author of Talking Problems: Studies on Discursive Construction and Social Accountability in Communication. His writing on fracking has appeared as a chapter in The Sustainability Communication Reader, as well as in Frontiers in Communication: Science and Environmental Communication, the Journal of Risk Research, Discourse & Communication, and Environmental Communication, in article form. His scholarship has also appeared in Discourse & Society, Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, Journal of Multicultural Research, Research on Language and Social Interaction, and more.

?"Unfracked explains the competing rhetoric and discourses on fracking among New York-based advocates, experts, the grassroots, and political officials. Buttny examines how these positions evolved over time and how eventually the state arrived at a decision to ban this extractive technology. The result is a look at a very recent, important historical moment and a useful examination of environmental activist and fossil fuel advocate rhetoric around an issue that continues to cause debate nationwide. . . A must-read for any scholar in the field and also anyone interested in this issue."--New Books in Environmental Studies ?"Unfracked is a must-read for scholars of environmental communication, particularly those interested in discourse analysis, grassroots activism, and environmental policy. Its detailed case studies and theoretical insights offer a valuable contribution to the field, making it a worthy addition to any environmental communication syllabus or reading list."--Environmental Communication "This easy-to-read book is the first I know of which squarely analyzes and documents the push for a fracking ban in New York. The autobiographical account Buttny includes is gripping because readers get an on the ground, inside look at one town's push for a ban, and it fits nicely because, as the author argues, towns' pushes to ban fracking locally played a large part in pressing the governor to ban the practice."--Colin Jerolmack, author of Up to Heaven and Down to Hell: Fracking, Freedom and Community in an American Town "Buttny assembles an engaging and fascinating narrative making great use of oral history interviews and primary sources to understand the effort to ban fracking in New York State."--Robert Lifset, author of Power on the Hudson: Storm King Mountain and the Emergence of Modern American Environmentalism