Author Tom Wilber to Discuss Shale Gas Development

04/12/2012

Author and journalist Tom Wilber will read from and discuss his new book, "Under the Surface: Fracking, Fortunes, and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale," at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry next week.

In his first pubic presentation about the book, Wilber will speak at 3 p.m. Monday, April 16, in 146 Baker Laboratory on the ESF campus.

"Under the Surface" is described as the first book-length journalistic overview of shale gas development and the controversies surrounding it.

Wilber has been in the newspaper business more than 20 years, including 17 years with the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, covering the business, health, and environment beats. He has reported on shale gas development in New York and Pennsylvania since 2008; he was among the first reporters to provide daily coverage of events in Dimock. PA, which have since come to symbolize the national controversy over the issue. For his coverage, he won top honors in Best of Gannett beat reporting in 2010.

Wilber's talk, The Future of Shale Gas in New York, includes an overview of what is known about the geology of the Marcellus and Utica shale formations extending under the northeast, the contrasting mineral extraction cultures and histories in New York state and Pennsylvania that have shaped events in those states, and analysis of the anti-fracking movement's influence on current and developing national policy. These topics are presented in the context of an election-year dilemma involving the balance of energy and economic policy in an age of global environmental degradation.

Wilber holds a B.A. in English from the University of Rochester and an M.A. in journalism from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He has taught various journalism courses as an adjunct at SUNY's Binghamton University. He lives in Union, N.Y.

Wilber's appearance at ESF is sponsored by the college's Department of Environmental Studies. His new book will be available for purchase at the event.