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Isaac Orr

Policy Fellow, Center of the American Experiment

Orr is a speaker, researcher, and writer specializing in hydraulic fracturing, frac sand mining, agricultural, and environmental policy issues. From 2013 to 2018, Orr was a research fellow for energy policy at The Heartland Institute. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire with studies in political science and geology, winning awards for his undergraduate geology research before taking a position as an aide in the Wisconsin State Senate, where he served as lead-office writer and as a policy advisor on frac sand mining and agricultural issues.

In 2013, Orr wrote a Heartland Policy Study on fracking titled “Hydraulic Fracturing: A Game-Changer for U.S. Energy and Economies” and coauthored multiple policy studies on frac sand mining in 2015, including “Environmental Impacts of Industrial Silica Sand (Frac Sand) Mining” and “Economic Impacts of Industrial Silica Sand (Frac Sand) Mining.” In 2018, Orr coauthored a series of Heartland Policy Studies on coal, the first of which was titled “How the Premature Retirement of Coal-Fired Power Plants Affects Energy Reliability, Affordability.”

His writing has appeared in USA Today, the New York Post, The Hill, Orange County Register, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Washington Times, and many other prominent publications. Orr’s work on fracking is also featured in an upcoming book entitled Alternative Energy and Shale Gas Encyclopedia, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. He has also recorded more than a dozen podcasts on energy and environment topics for Heartland.

Orr writes, “I grew up on a dairy farm, and I want to preserve rural America, and rural American values. Along with agriculture, I am fascinated by geology, mining, groundwater, and other environmental issues.”