Fracking and environmental protection: An analysis of U.S. state policies

This paper examines the correlates of state policies designed to mitigate prospective environmental impacts associated with U.S. oil and gas drilling (fracking operations). I found that policy decisions are especially influenced by political factors such as the partisan orientations of the statewide electorate and the ideological makeup of state voters as well as economic resource variables such as the generation of revenue from severance taxes. Less important in accounting for variation in state fracking policies are socioeconomic characteristics such as median educational attainment and per capita income and general indicators of a state's prior receptivity to the enactment of environmental programs.