First published 2018
Eliza Griswold follows Stacey Haney, a Pennsylvania mother who welcomed fracking to her rural community as economic salvation. When energy companies arrived in Amity with promises of payments and prosperity, Haney joined her neighbors in signing deals. The journalist documents how Haney's initial enthusiasm turned to alarm as animals died and her children developed strange symptoms. Griswold traces Haney's evolution from grateful resident to determined investigator, showing how she gathered evidence and pursued legal action despite corporate denials. The author reveals how Haney's battle exposed deeper divisions within her community about corporations, government authority, and economic survival. Through this individual story, Griswold examines the human price of America's energy choices and the challenges facing rural communities caught between financial necessity and environmental risk.
Genres: environment, non-fiction, 21st-century, journalism, activism, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, social-issues
Setting: Amity, Pennsylvania
Period: 21st-century
318 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Content warnings: animal-death