Fracking

Forums: Environment, Pollution, Natural Gas, Fracking, Hydraulic Fracking
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May 3, 2014
Hydraulic Fracking

Hydraulic Fracking has become a major problem in our society. Hydraulic Fracking is the act of extracting natural gas that has previously been protected. Fracking is a hazard for our environment and our health alike. Many of the large energy corporations have made statements that fracking will actually benefit society more than it will harm it. This is a play by these corporations to persuade Americans that our energy is more important than respect for human life. It is very easy for us to choose convenience over longevity, but we need to look out for our future and the future of people to come.
The first major concern that stems from Hydraulic Fracking is the effect it has on our water supply. Water is a critical everyday element for human life. There are toxic chemicals involved in fracking that are mixing into our water supply and causing harmful side effects. Innocent people are being affected from simply drinking out of their tap at home. Is it worth risking the lives of innocent people to obtain more natural Gas? The companies are claiming that the treatment facilities they instituted are removing these toxic chemicals. There are many documented instances around the United States that have proven this to be false. We cannot make exceptions for these companies, just so we have more natural gas for the future.
Not only does fracking affect our drinking water but also it affects the air that we breathe everyday. The greenhouse gases that are emitted by fracking are greatly affecting our atmosphere. These chemicals are contributing to the already growing climate change. The climate change is not just an effect on our lives today, but it could have an enormous effect on future life. Our atmosphere is so crucial to our everyday life that it is mind blowing that there are companies that want to alter it just to make more money.
So what is the solution? We need to raise awareness of the problems and concerns that our country has with hydraulic fracking. To do this we need to educate the public on what hydraulic fracking and the affect it has on everyday life. We need to stress the fact that fracking could greatly effect the lives our generations to come. These efforts can help to create legislations and laws that strongly increase the restriction of Fracking. We are letting our energy corporations get away with too much in the current world. We are giving them power that they do not deserve. The only people that can stop this are us. As a whole we need to make the conscious effort to protect our natural resources that we take for granted everyday.

Sincerely,
Steve Snyder

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Fracking is the worst new energy supply since nuclear power plants.

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@snyder7,

Turn it in, it ought to bring at least a 'B'.

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@snyder7,

Not sure if you are aware but there is a significant amount of crude oil associated with natural gas production from fractured wells in the US. Everything you see or touch in your home can be attributed directly or indirectly to crude oil and natural gas production. All the food you eat, everything you see and touch in the hospital you were born in and every other hospital on earth can be attributed to oil and gas production. Do you see where I am going with this? Everything made by man is either grown, manufactured, transported, heated, constructed and the list goes on and on. Our culture as we know it is based on the production of crude oil and natural gas.
Can you imagine living without energy. We would be living in teepees chasing buffalo herds with sticks. Additionally, you state that fracking fluids are made up of toxic chemicals. That is absolutely false and totally unfounded. These toxic chemicals you speak to can be found in face makeup, lipstick, dish detergent, starch, and ice cream. The large amounts of frack water you speak about is recycled water, water collected from wells below the bedrock which is non potable.

I'm not going to state that drilling for natural gas has no risk. Everything we do has risk: walking your dog, eating fast food, swimming, fishing, driving, playing golf, jumping on a pogo stick. Like I said, "everything we do"

You all probably think I'm some executive working for some big oil company. Well you would be just as wrong as the rhetorical mumbo-jumbo
found in your essay. I am currently a principal environmental engineer for a large environmental consulting company.

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@Navybrat,

I lived in Oklahoma for about 25 years. Some of the time was spent working in the oil fields. I worked on a lot of well drilling jobs, and quite a few fracking jobs. Never have I seen some of the things being published about fracking. I never heard of a confirmed water well contamination due to fracking, although where we lived there were oil and gas wells all around us. Fracking has increased our gas and oil production in this country for the past 60 years. Without the increased production, gas prices would probably be double or more, than they are now. Any contamination of water wells by gas has been caused by problems with the well construction or natural causes, not by fracking. If a well produces as much oil or gas as the oil company expects, they will not frack the well. We are going to have problems with everything we do if we don't do it right. We don't stop doing it because of the possibility that something will go wrong, because it could. We try to fix whatever is causing the problem. Don't let anyone that that has never seen or been on a fracking job convince you that we need to stop it. We just need to work on fixing the problems. Can you remember when you had to set in lines at the gas stations waiting to get gas if there was any left by the time you got to the pumps or the people freezing because they wasn't enough gas available to heat their homes? I don't want to see that happen again. You're right Navybrat. Everything grown or manufactured in this country, the cost is regulated by the cost of fuel. 25 years ago, diesel was 60 cents a gallon. It took 400 gallons or more for a truck to haul a load from the west coast to the east cost or about $240. Now at $4 a gallon, it's about $1600 to haul the same load. Cutting the oil and gas production in this country will only increase the cost of everything. Thanks Navybrat for an informative letter

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@snyder7,

Yes, fracking does have the potential to be bad for the environment, but that damage is outweighed by the economic benefits and job creation. Also it will help move the US into a position of energy independence so we won't have to rely on foreign countries as much. Plus, fracking is just in isolated parts of the country, its not everywhere, so it doesn't have the widespread environmental impact that people think it has.

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Came across this in Truthdig. Beginning to feel I need to be a part of protests like this.

We need to be more accountable for what we allow our corrupt government to do.

http://m.truthdig.com/report/item/for_james_cromwell_the_fight_against_fossil_fuels_is_no_act_20170719

Yay, James!

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