Doctoral Dissertation Research: Organizational, Community, and State Regulatory Characteristics Influence on Venting and Flaring Rates of Texas Gas Wells.

本项目通过检验使用组织政治经济学框架提出的假设，研究了为什么一些气井和运营公司的排放和燃烧速度比其他公司高。具体来说，它分析了分支工厂（即气井）和中央总部（即运营公司）层面的社区、商业和州监管组织特征与2012年德克萨斯州气井燃除和排放率之间的关系。本项目促进了对社会组织影响工业环境污染和自然资源浪费方式的基本认识。该项目的主要目的是通过确定与天然气生产行业的排放和燃烧实践相关的社会结构因素，并通过发布高质量、易于移动的地图、演示文稿和科技论文，使这些信息公开，帮助商业从业者、国家管理者和社区更好地应对气候变化、经济浪费和社区健康危害。在天然气生产工业中，排气和燃除是指从井中提取天然气并有目的地燃烧（即燃烧）或释放或泄漏到空气中（即排气）的过程，有时是在首先收集与天然气一起提取的原油和伴生气之后。目前还没有系统的解释为什么天然气生产行业中的一些组织比其他组织排放和燃烧天然气的速度更快。迫切需要确定与污染和废物有关的社会组织结构，以便重新组织组织和公共政策，以更好地实现环境的可持续性。本项目将通过测试使用环境框架的组织政治经济学开发的几个假设来满足这一需求。通过量化2012年德克萨斯州气井排放和燃除率之间的关系，以及气井和运营公司层面的组织特征，采用多层统计模型对假设进行了检验。统计分析将使用德克萨斯铁路委员会、国家慈善统计中心、美国能源信息管理局和美国人口普查局的数据对创建的数据集进行。利用创建的数据集，该项目将研究气井周围受影响社区的特征，并开发高质量、移动友好的气井排放和燃烧率地图，以及覆盖的商业、社区和州监管组织特征。通过制作高质量的地图、演示文稿和论文，该项目将提高公众对社会组织结构与排气和燃烧率之间关系的科学知识的理解。

This project examines why some gas wells and operating companies vent and flare at a higher rate than others by testing hypotheses developed using the organizational political economy framework. Specifically, it analyzes how community, business, and state regulatory organizational characteristics at the branch plant (i.e., gas well) and central headquarters (i.e., operating company) level relate to Texas gas well flaring and venting rates in 2012. This project advances basic understandings of the way social organization influences industrial environmental pollution and waste of natural resources. The primary aim of this project is to assist business practitioners, state managers, and communities to better combat climate change, economic waste, and community health hazards by identifying the social structural factors related to venting and flaring practices in the natural gas production industry and making this information publicly available by publishing high-quality, mobile-friendly maps, presentations, and scientific and technical papers. Venting and flaring in the gas production industry are processes by which natural gas is extracted from a well and purposefully burned (i.e., flaring) or released or leaked into the air (i.e., venting), sometimes after first collecting the crude petroleum oil and associated gas extracted along with the natural gas. There is currently no systematic explanation for why some organizations in the natural gas production industry vent and flare natural gas at a higher rate than others. There is an urgent need to identify the social organizational structures associated with pollution and waste, so that organizations and public policies can be reorganized to better achieve environmental sustainability. This project will fill this need by testing several hypotheses developed using the organizational political economy of the environment framework. Hypotheses are tested by quantifying the relationship between Texas gas well venting and flaring rates in 2012, and organizational characteristics at the gas well and operating company level using multilevel statistical modeling. Statistical analysis will be conducted on a created dataset using Texas Railroad Commission, National Center for Charitable Statistics, United States Energy Information Administration, and United States Census Bureau data. Using the created dataset, this project will examine the characteristics of affected communities surrounding gas wells and develop high-quality, mobile-friendly maps of gas well venting and flaring rates and overlying business, community, and state regulatory organizational characteristics. By producing high quality maps, presentations, and papers, this project will increase public understanding of scientific knowledge regarding the relationship between social organizational structures and venting and flaring rates.