Bethany McLean discusses her new book which you can purchase here: https://www.strandbooks.com/product/s… The technology of fracking in shale rock — particularly in the Permian Basin in Texas — has transformed America into the world’s top producer of both oil and natural gas. The U.S. is expected to be “energy independent” and a “net exporter” in less than a decade, a move that will upend global politics, destabilize Saudi Arabia, crush Russia’s chokehold over Europe, and finally bolster American power again. Or Will it?
Investigative journalist and bestselling author Bethany McLean digs deep into the cycles of boom and bust that has plagued the American oil industry for the past decade, from the financial wizardry and mysterious death of fracking pioneer Aubrey McClendon, to the speculators who are betting on America’s ascendance and the collapse of OPEC in the great game of geopolitics. McLean finds that fracking is a business built on attracting ever-more gigantic amounts of capital investment, while promises of huge returns have often not borne out. Overeagerness in partaking in a boom can lead to all types of problems and just as she did with the Enron story, in Saudi America McLean points out the reality and the risks of the inflated promises of the fracking boom.
Saudi America, feat. Bethany McClean
Global I.Q. Minute explores global oil markets with Bethany McClean, author of “Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How It’s Changing the World.”
Saudi America
Vanity Fair’s Bethany McLean took a critical look at the fracking industry in America.
Report: Russia Used Social Media to Disrupt U.S. Energy Markets by Promoting Pipeline Protests, Climate Change Debate
The House Committee on Science Space and Technology released a report on Thursday detailing how Russia has been using social media platforms to disrupt domestic energy markets and influence domestic energy policies.
“The committee began investigating Russian attempts to influence U.S. energy markets in the summer of 2017 when Chairman [Lamar] Smith wrote [to] the Secretary of Treasury regarding Russia’s intricate money-laundering scheme. Russian-sponsored agents funneled money to U.S. environmental organizations in an attempt to portray energy companies in a negative way and disrupt domestic energy markets,” the report states.
.. The report also reveals that Russia wants to disrupt the cutting edge technology that has resulted in an American domestic energy renaissance, including horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing or fracking.