Exploring the Place of Animals and Human–Animal Relationships in Hydraulic Fracturing Discourse

Abstract

Throughout human history, energy security has been a prominent concern. Historically, animals were used as energy providers and as companions and sentinels in mining operations. While animals are seldom used for these purposes in developed communities today, this legacy of use is likely to have far-reaching consequences for how animals and human–animal relationships are acknowledged in energy development. The US is currently experiencing an energy boom in the form of high volume horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (HVHHF); because animals are the most at risk from this boom, this study uses a thorough content analysis of peer-reviewed HVHHF articles mentioning animals from 2012–2018 to assess how animals and human–animal relationships are discussed. Three dominant article theme classifications emerge: animal-focused articles, animal-observant articles, and animal sentinel articles. Across themes, articles seldom acknowledge the inherent value or the social and psychological importance of animals in human lives; instead, the focus is almost exclusively on the use of animals as sentinels for potential human health risks. Further, what is nearly absent from this body of literature is any social science research. Given that relationships with animals are an integral part of human existence, this study applies environmental justice principles, serving as a call to action for social science scholars to address the impacts of HVHHF on animals and human–animal relationships.

Teaching about Animals: Incorporating Nonhuman Animals into Sociology Classrooms

“…From even a cursory glance, one would be hard-pressed not to see the role that NHAs play in virtually every dimension of social life: food, family, fashion, entertainment, economy, environment, media, medicine, and so on. For example, HAS scholars have established linkages between NHAs and domestic violence (Akhtar 2013; Ascione 1999; Bright et al 2017; Fitzgerald 2007); childhood socialization (McCardle, McCune, Griffin, and Maholmes 2011; Melson 2001; Sussman 1985); health and medicine (Beck and Katcher 2003; Rogers, Hart, and Boltz 1993); poverty and homelessness (Irvine 2015); language and culture (Kalof 2007; Malamud 2010; Smith-Harris 2008); crime and deviancy (Beirne 2002; Bryant 1979; Fitzgerald, Kalof, and Dietz 2009); disasters and resiliency (Baum 2011; Chadwin 2017; Zottarelli 2010); family formation and interactions (Owens and Grauerholz 2019; Laurent-Simpson 2017); symbolic interaction and the development of self (Cerulo 2009; Jerolmack and Tavory 2014); ecology, energy, the environment, and food systems (Cherry 2019; Scoville 2019; Whitley 2019; Winders and Ransom 2019; Wrenn 2018); advocacy and social movements (Cherry 2010; Fitzgerald 2019); and a host of social problems (Bryant 1979; Jerolmack 2008), to name a few. Thus, to understand human society fully, the human–NHA connection must be taken into account, and in failing to do so, we miss an important opportunity to help students understand the social world more fully.…”