Energy Secretary to Stump for Shale Innovation

• Susan Phillips
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  Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

Ever wonder how the oil and gas industry came up with new methods such as fracking? Or new ways to treat frack water? Much of that research takes place at labs run by the Department of Energy. D.O.E chief Steven Chu will be touring the Department’s National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh on Thursday. D.O.E researchers are focusing on what to do with waste water produced from drilling. When it comes to tapping the Marcellus Shale, that waste water often contains more than just salt and heavy metals, it also comes up from the ground with radionuclides. NETL also conducts research, such as a recent report comparing greenhouse gas emissions of coal and natural gas, tracing the gas from cradle to grave. Secretary Chu will be joined on the tour with Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. Later, he plans to meet with gas industry executives and members of the Marcellus Shale Coalition.

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