Top Five Posts of the Year

• Susan Phillips
  BioRecent Stories

  

  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.

We here at State Impact Pennsylvania hope all of you are embracing some holiday spirit and relaxing as much as we are right now. Scott and I will be trying not to think about energy or shale or the environment this week as we spend time with our families. But we do have several evergreen web features ahead, including a top five holiday list for each day this week. Today, we bring you our most popular posts of the year. Take a peak!
1) What Would Life Be Like Without the Halliburton Loophole?
Our most popular post came from our most popular “Burning Question” voted on by you, our readers. The question actually came from a Delawarian who does not live anywhere near the Marcellus Shale. But Howard Weissman wanted an explanation of the exemptions in federal environmental laws enjoyed by the oil and gas industry. The explainer spread rapidly via Facebook, and received 18,000 hits in one day! A first for State Impact nationwide. Thanks Howard! Keep the questions coming.
2) The Pennsylvania Guide to Hydraulic Fracturing, or “Fracking”
We call this a “Topic Page” meaning, an explainer that will always live, and always be relevant. How many people in Pennsylvania ever heard of fracking a year ago? Not many. Today, it seems like a household term. The word is so new, standardized spelling has yet to take hold. Some spell it “fracing” because it’s derived from the word fracturing, which has no ‘K’. But we’re radio people, and we decided we need the ‘K’ to make sure we pronounce a hard ‘C’.
3) How Fracking Causes Earthquakes, But Not the One in Virginia
When the lights above my desk started shaking, and the folks who work over in Fresh Air started exclaiming, my first thought was…fracking! Seriously, I knew this post would be popular. But I didn’t expect all those nasty commenters to tell me I drink Kool Aid. And I’m a vegetarian! The popularity of the post led me to do an even longer explainer, prompted by a Burning Question, about earthquakes and fracking, which you can read here.
4) What’s in the Frack: How Pennsylvania’s Chemical Disclosure Rules Stack Up
Scott Detrow’s report on what’s required when it comes to chemical disclosures among 5 fracking states created a one-stop-shopping for anyone trying to discern the often confusing state and federal rules. But these rules are changing rapidly, so stay tuned.
5) What Are Your Burning Questions About Natural Gas?
The idea of taking listener and reader questions came from our visionary editor Chris Satullo. But even he didn’t realize how popular this would become. The response was overwhelming, so we had to pull the radio spots off the air. In the meantime, we’ve got a long list that we are carefully slogging through. On Tuesday, we’ll post our top 5 Burning Questions. Until then, ask away.
 

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