Top Five "Burning Questions" of 2011

• 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.

When we first started airing spots seeking listener’s “Burning Questions” about natural gas development in Pennsylvania, we thought maybe we’d get a few responses. But dozens of questions poured in from all over the state, and some from out of state. We put together an excel spreadsheet, we hijacked an intern, we started sweating. Some of the questions were easy, others more like complex research projects. We have yet to make a dent in the list. But here are answers to the year’s most popular “Burning Questions.”
1) What Would Life Be Like Without the Halliburton Loophole?
This post is making a lot of our lists this year – top post, top most commented post, and of course, top most popular Burning Question. It’s well worth the read, check it out.
2) Quarantined Cows Give Birth to Dead Calves
The story of Carol Johnson’s cows and their offspring may raise more questions than it answers. Expect an update in the coming year.
3) What’s What When it Comes to Water?
We got so many questions about water we decided to do a water primer. Everything you wanted to know about water usage and gas drilling: from withdrawals, to fracking, to treatment, to disposal.
4) Does Fracking Cause Earthquakes?
Get the skinny on fracking earthquakes here.
5) The Who, What, Where, When and Why of Water Testing
This really should be required by the state, and paid for by someone other than homeowners. But until then, here’s what you need to do if you get your drinking water from a private well.

Editor's Picks