Fracking is one of the many controversial topics in resource production. The procedure can harm the environment, but can help the economy and the oil industry. The main reason the procedure is so controversial is that it uses too much water, it may leak chemicals and contaminate groundwater, it can raise the amount of gas used, and it may cause earth tremors. There are also many advantages to fracking, but can affect the environment but can help the economy. My views on fracking are positive for there are many more advantages to the process. In 1947 Floyd Farris and Joseph Clark of Stanolind Oil and Gas Corporation invented Hydraulic Fracking, also known as fracking. The process allowed them to obtain oil that was unreachable until the invention. …show more content…
The first pro of fracking is that it is an alternative source of easily accessible fuel. The plentiful supply of oil and gas may not seem great today due to air and water pollution, but there will again be a time where resources will be scarce, but with fracking there won’t be another time. If oil drilling and fracking are both continued there won’t be another fuel shortage in an estimated 100 years in the US. Not only are oil shortage avoided but a country’s dependency on foreign oil will decrease and oil exports across America will decrease. Another pro for fracking is the reduction of surface toxicity. Since all the chemicals are pumped underground they cause close to no damage to if they are released on the surface or in the air. It is then less likely to contaminate bodies of water and the air. It can lead to a major decrease in air pollution due to reduced carbon dioxide emissions and less dependency on nuclear plants and coal. Lower energy cost is also a big pro because since oil and gas are obtained locally, industries that rely on fuel resources can be affected because of lower energy costs. That is why many people believe that fracking positively transformed the US’ energy situation. The last advantage is the amount of jobs it will open to the public. In 2012, more than 1.2 million people were employed into the oil and gas industry due to the expansion of
Although we do not know the long term effects of fracking for natural gas just the short term effects can be seen. We may be jeopardizing our children’s future. It would be more prudent to understand all we can about fracking before it is expanded across the country. Many believe the short term ramifications of fracking is only the beginning of a devastating destruction of our
What is fracking? Fracking is the process of drilling into the ground and releasing a high-pressure water mixture into rocks in order to fracture them and release the natural gases inside. The water mixture consists of water, sand and chemicals. Fracking is beneficial because it lowers the prices of oil and gas, reduces America’s dependency on foreign oil, and reduces CO2 contribution.
Fracking involves drilling a hole into the ground and injecting a combination of fluids and chemicals into the shale. The fracking fluid contains upwards of 600 different chemicals (David). The pressure of the fluid is what causes the shale to fracture, then releases natural gas. That fracking fluid is what is really dangerous, as this is what poses the biggest threat, since many of those chemicals are extremely dangerous and some are completely unknown by the public. After the fracking process is complete, the fracking water, known as flowback, which includes water, chemicals and additives, is either collected and transferred to holding-tanks or it is injected back into the ground for storage
SUMMARY Journalist, Nick Stockton, in the article, “Fracking’s Problems Go Deeper Than Water Pollution,” published in June 2015, addresses the topic of hydraulic fracturing and argues that fracking has more negative consequences than one might think. Stockton supports his claim first by appealing emotionally through a short summary of a recent event involving fracking and also by utilizing evidence to back up his statements. The author’s overall purpose is to highlight outcomes of fracking in order to make more people aware of issues that can arise from this common way of obtaining energy. Stockton utilizes a scientific, yet critical tone in order to create an unbiased article and appeal to his audience’s concern for the well being of the
My general overview of this article is the methods used to obtain fossil fuels is hurting people and nature all around the world. People are beginning to come to a realization about how fracking is harming the world. However, people in cities like “Buffalo, New York, Pennsylvania, and the author’s hometown
Another professional Shelly interviewed was Dr. Joseph Martin, a professor in Department of Civil, Architecture, and environmental engineer at Drexel University. Her question to the professor was “How is gas drilling compared to coal mining? What is the effect on the environment?” Dr. Martin stated, “The surface impact of this hydro fracking is phenomenally lower than anything you could do. As far as safety issues of natural gas drilling, they’re minimal.
FRACKING AND ITS CRITICISM Since the mid-80s, The First Nations and their leaders have raised numerous concerns about the failure of the government and industries in Canada to properly consult them before developing any of their lands. Fracking is a technique used in stimulating the fracturing of rocks through the use of pressurized liquid. The fluid used comprises of hot water, sand, and proppants that are thickened using appropriate agents. The fluid enters the deep-rock and makes it possible to have natural gas, petroleum and brine flow up. If the pressure is removed, the grains in the proppants are capable of keeping the fractures while open.
Have you ever thought that fracking should not be allowed and that it could be dangerous for all living creatures. Fracking is the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks, boreholes, etc, so as to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas. The process can become dangerous to the environment and all species on the planet. Fracking can have negative effects on human health. Benzene and methane was found in groundwater and aquifers used for drinking water and benzene has been strongly linked with childhood leukemia.
Fracking is a method used to extract natural gas and should be continued because it is a viable source of energy, economically beneficial, and poses no threat towards groundwater. In the first place natural gas produced by fracking is a viable source of energy. Fracking is so effective that in “4 months of a good shale well will produce enough energy to power around 11,000 homes for those 4 months,” - (Sweet). An example of the energy from fracking is: “Domestic crude production increased from 5 million barrels a day to 7.3 million barrels a day.” - (Kashi)
Fracking has changed daily Oklahoman’s lives, from their property to their income. Fracking History In 1907, when the first oil well was drilled, which was before statehood, the abundance of oil seemed to draw everyone to Oklahoma, to make a small fortune in oil. Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was once dubbed the oil capital of the world, has a small structure still dedicated to its oil days, the Golden Driller, pictured below.
With the increased scale of fracking in Texas, one might wonder if the oil boom is affecting our water supply. The value of water in Texas is deeply cherished considering Texas’s dry climate and long-standing droughts. One may even wonder if Texas is valuing its water as much as it is its oil. As research furthers, we can begin to weigh the positive and negative effects of oil fracking. By providing overwhelming data on oil fracking
Throughout the past century, there has been a constant battle with whether the government should allow fracking or not. Stopping the process of fracking is the voice of the people. Fracking brings many groups of people together that are either for it or against it. However, the government has the power to continue to allow fracking or ban it. Even though the government has power, the people have the power to use their voice to stop fracking.
In addition, there are more downsides to fracking than just water pollution, and that is the pollution of our environment. The condition of our environment is horrendous when fracking is conducted. To add on to that statement, fracking has caused natural gas leakage into the air, marred landscapes, and many more hazards to our environment. Fracking has already caused pollution to the air, and fracking companies have to remove trees, then that takes away more air from our environment. Trees are vital to Earth’s supply of oxygen, and these companies are just taking the air straight out of the lungs of the people.
Researchers have “requested data from Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Texas, all states heavily involved in the recent surge of oil and gas drilling, about complaints related to hydraulic fracking for oil and gas” for their research on fracking (Dechert). The research collected was shocking, over 2,000 complaints in Texas alone and several cases on well water contamination within the states mentioned in Decherd’s article. People need to be alerted about how real fracking is and the damages it is doing. These complaints and cases should be a wakeup call to the world and say that we should put it to a
Fracking has a bad reputation of polluting the environment that we live in. The government should allow hydraulic fracking to continue only if fracking companies agree to the following. Transporting fuel from foreign countries require a lot of money, the government should spend the money on better things like paying people to work of public projects. David Morris, PhD, Vice President of the institute for Local Self-Reliance states that the expenditures for our transportation fleets are about hundreds of billions of dollars. Since hydraulic fracturing companies pump up more than enough natural gas from the shale rocks underground, the shift in demand for foreign supplies declines.