A University of Wyoming professor is taking on the Wyoming energy industry in his upcoming book.
Professor of Natural Sciences and Humanities Jeffery Lockwood is turning in his manuscript at the end of the month for his project “Living Behind the Carbon Curtain: The Energy Industry, Political Censorship and Free Speech.” The book focuses on how the energy industry demonstrates control over those that speak out against it.
Lockwood’s inspiration started with the “carbon sink incident” that occurred at UW in 2012. A piece of artwork installed on campus that was meant to represent consequences of global warming was dismantled due to pressure from the industry.
“I was very involved in the carbon sink event on campus and thought that that was sort of a done package,” Lockwood said. “But then I had all these people from around the state sending me emails saying have you heard about this story, have you heard about what happened up in Casper, over in Rawlins.”
Lockwood found stories all across the state of people speaking out against the energy industry and being silenced for it. One involved a scientist at the university who spoke out to the press about the amount of water that he anticipated would be needed for a specific fracking operation. After pressure from the industry his contract was not renewed though he was a defender of fracking if it was done the right way.
Another incident included a sate climatologist who was driven out of his position at the university for talking to the public about climate change.
“It became clear that the influence of the energy industry in terms of shaping public discourse and limiting speech in Wyoming was not a one off event involving the University of Wyoming but it was happening across the state in many communities not just in art, but in science and education,” Lockwood said.
Lockwood also hopes to dispel the notion that the University of Wyoming in some way serves or owes the energy industry because of the money it provides the state for education. “That money is coming from severance taxes and severance taxes are paid because the industry severs, or takes, natural resources from the public pool and so we can think of a severance taxes as sort of compensation for damage or a compensation for loss,” Lockwood said. “Once you have paid the taxes those are public dollars not industry dollars. My sense is that first we have to get very clear on that these are public moneys and that the point of these dollars are the public good. That is our obligation at the University of Wyoming, our obligation is a social obligation, a public obligation.“
As the project progressed Lockwood found it more and more difficult to get responses for his research due to a growing awareness about the project.
“Early on in the research of this book it was much easier to get interviews, to get emails returned, to get phone calls returned and I have never misrepresented myself,” Lockwood said. “What has happened, and it is fortunate since the research is done, it simply became more difficult to get people to reply. It was more a matter of passive aggression and no responsiveness.”
During the carbon sink incident Lockwood repeatedly heard students state the phrase “we can’t bite the hand that feeds us.”
“What a tragic framework to understand yourself as a domesticated or captive animal,” Lockwood said. “You know the Hathaway is a great deal and this is probably one of the best educations you can get in the country per dollar paid, but good god don’t think of yourself as having been bought.”
To him the most important thing of all is that students take a stand.
“I think if anything the students should try to bite and shred the hand that feeds them. That is what we want in the students, the ability to critically think not to faun or to sort of fear for their economic well being.”
The book will be published in early 2016 after it goes through two extensive legal reviews as well as a technical review to ensure that the facts are sound and that nothing can be misconstrued as slander.
