New Geographies of Energy: Introduction to the Special Issue

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgments Editing of this special issue from start to finish has depended on the editorial assistance, guidance, and expertise of Martha G. Bell, who has worked skillfully and independently from Britain and Peru. My editorial capacity also benefited from the input and knowledge of fellow faculty members and graduate students in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and the Institute for Energy and the Environment, both at Penn State. I am especially grateful for interactions with the growing number of colleagues who are working on topics related to the gas extraction from the nearby Marcellus Shale, one of the five large fields of shale gas in the United States and currently a major energy "play." On a personal level, the engagement with energy issues is a welcome continuation of my activities begun during the U.S. energy crisis of the 1970s when, as an undergraduate student, I interned in the solar water-heating section of the National Center for Appropriate Technology in Butte, Montana (1978), and, in a subsequent internship, in research and applied activities on wind and biomass energy, all in the context of perennial polycultures, at The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas (1979). In the course of preparing this special issue it was a pleasure to work with the large pool of talented authors, beginning with the submission of abstracts in July 2009 through the review of papers (beginning March 2010) and versions that were revised (September 2010) and then finalized (January 2011). The Association of American Geographers and its specialty groups offered unending use of their listservs and other means of advertising the opportunity to contribute to the special issue. I am always immensely grateful when such accomplished authors provide the Annals with the opportunity to consider their fine works of scholarly and scientific research. The editorial process per se involved communication with approximately 300 potential reviewers, many from outside geography, of whom more than 100 were able to contribute reports that served as essential evaluations in the review processes. The authors of articles in this issue were asked to adhere to a tight timetable involving some accelerated turnaround times as well as a strict limit of 5,000 words and a modest allowance of graphics. All the authors met this challenge with grace and understanding, for which I am most appreciative. Finally it is an honor to have worked with Robin Maier, the Managing Editor of the Annals, who provided expert guidance and generous help throughout the preparation of this volume. Notes 1. Michael Watts planned to contribute an invited article but was unable.