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Kenneth E. Montague Series in Oil and Business History
George P. Mitchell: Fracking, Sustainability, and an Unorthodox Quest to Save the Planet (Volume 26)
Upon George Mitchell’s death in 2013, The Economist proclaimed, “Few businesspeople have done as much to change the world as George Mitchell,” a billionaire Texas oilman who defied the stereotypical swagger so identified with that industry. In George P. Fracking, Sustainability, and an Unorthodox Quest to Save the Planet , award-winning author Loren C. Steffy offers the first definitive biography of Mitchell, placing his life and legacy in a global context, from the significance of his discoveries to the lingering controversies they inspired.
Mitchell will forever be known as “the father of fracking,” but he didn’t invent the drilling process; he perfected it and made it profitable, one of many varied ventures he pursued for years. Long before his company ever fracked a well, he pioneered sustainable development by creating The Woodlands, near Houston, one of the first and most successful master-planned communities. Its focus on environmental protection and livability redefined the American suburb. This apparent contradiction between his energy interests and environmental pursuits, which his son Todd dubbed “the Mitchell Paradox,” was just one of many that defined Mitchell’s life.
Anyone who puts fuel in a tank or turns on a light switch has benefited from Mitchell’s efforts. This compelling biography reveals Mitchell as a modern renaissance man who sought to make the world a better, more livable place, a man whose unbounded intellectual curiosity led him to support a wide range of interests in business, science, and philanthropy.
Mitchell will forever be known as “the father of fracking,” but he didn’t invent the drilling process; he perfected it and made it profitable, one of many varied ventures he pursued for years. Long before his company ever fracked a well, he pioneered sustainable development by creating The Woodlands, near Houston, one of the first and most successful master-planned communities. Its focus on environmental protection and livability redefined the American suburb. This apparent contradiction between his energy interests and environmental pursuits, which his son Todd dubbed “the Mitchell Paradox,” was just one of many that defined Mitchell’s life.
Anyone who puts fuel in a tank or turns on a light switch has benefited from Mitchell’s efforts. This compelling biography reveals Mitchell as a modern renaissance man who sought to make the world a better, more livable place, a man whose unbounded intellectual curiosity led him to support a wide range of interests in business, science, and philanthropy.
376 pages, Hardcover
Published September 30, 2019
12 people are currently reading
677 people want to read
About the author
Loren C. Steffy
11 books64 followersLoren Steffy is a writer-at-large for Texas Monthly, an executive producer for Rational Middle Media and a managing director for 30 Point Strategies, where he heads the 30 Point Press publishing imprint. He is the author of five nonfiction books: Deconstructed: An Insider’s View of Illegal Immigration and the Building Trades (with Stan Marek), The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens (with Chrysta Castañeda), George P. Mitchell: Fracking, Sustainability, and an Unorthodox Quest to Save the Planet, The Man Who Thought Like a Ship, and Drowning in Oil: BP and the Reckless Pursuit of of Profit. His first novel, The Big Empty, was published in May 2021.
Steffy is the former business columnist for the Houston Chronicle and previously was the Dallas (and Houston) bureau chief and a senior writer for Bloomberg News. His award-winning writing has been published in newspapers and other publications worldwide.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas A&M University and lives in Wimberley, Texas, with his wife, three dogs and an ungrateful cat.
Steffy is the former business columnist for the Houston Chronicle and previously was the Dallas (and Houston) bureau chief and a senior writer for Bloomberg News. His award-winning writing has been published in newspapers and other publications worldwide.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas A&M University and lives in Wimberley, Texas, with his wife, three dogs and an ungrateful cat.
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December 4, 2019
I picked up this book at the library and read the inside flap and thought ....I hate fracking so wouldn't like this book at all and put it back. Then picked it up again and since a lot of it was written about Houston and Galveston and oil wells and drilling (all the things I knew about) I decided to get it. Glad I did because the book will surprise you. It's about a lot of other things along with climate change and history and people. A book you will enjoy until the very last page.
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