Hydraulic fracturing or fracking, which it is more commonly known by, is a method used to retrieve oil and gas out of shale rock. This is a very effective way to retrieve oil and is now a very commonly used method to retrieve oil. This method is responsible for about a quarter of the United States oil production. The problem is that there are possible health concerns to this method but this technique is used all over the United States and has opened doors to retrieving oil that was not possible almost a decade ago. So should the U.S. continue hydraulic fracturing even though there are environmental and health concerns? Fracking is worth the risk because if the U.S. stopped fracking they would have to become more dependent on another country, …show more content…
needs to continue to produce oil by fracking because if not then another country will have more power over them because they control the United States oil supply. This would make it to where the United States had to import more oil and probably still have to purify it so that it is of the top quality to go into the United States market. This would raise the price of oil all over the country making gas prices go up and eventually affecting the whole economy. Then the United States would have no oil and the economy would be suffering from a lack of jobs from a quarter of the oilfield being shut down as well as higher gas prices which slows travel down. With higher gas prices people do not travel as much and hotels, airlines, and many other industries will be suffering from it. The United States already imports oil from unstable countries such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Syria and Iraq. By importing from these countries the U.S. is helping support the regimes in those countries. If the U.S. cuts out 25% of their current at home oil source they would be opening a door to support countries not on their side as well as hurting their own …show more content…
That is not confirmed and no studies have proved that. The Energy Department did yet another study on if groundwater is affected and the results came back negative. “NETL found no evidence of drinking water contamination in a 2013 study of Pennsylvania gas wells” (cite here) “The Environmental Protection Agency has failed to link fracking to groundwater contamination on three separate occasions.”(cite here) There have also been other government studies with no evidence that fracking is the cause for groundwater contamination. Therefore this is not a very valid reason to put fracking to a
Hydraulic fracking isn 't all good though, there are many controversial things about it. First off, water contamination is a hazard. There are many ways that the water supply could be contaminated by fracking. One way is by groundwater entering through cracks that fracking has made. The water solution that 's pumped into the ground is a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals. Water and sand make up 98% of the mixture, while the remaining 2% is chemicals. Although fracking companies have never realised the chemicals used, scientists studying wastewater have found many harmful additives. A few of these are benzene, toluene, and many acids, all of which pose huge threats to humans. For each fracking well, more than 8 million liters of
Therefore with resources becoming scarce humanity needs to extract the most from what the earth has. In fact from adding gasoline to your vehicle, to power plant facilities using natural gas instead of burning coal to power homes, to computes and cell phones, almost everything in our lives depend on an oil based product and fracking is the solution for the depletion of fossil fuels. Three controversial issues with hydraulic fracking are nearly everything people use daily has a petroleum based product, contamination of drinking water also the surrounding soil, and the financial impact on the economy. Many people in America do not realize the positives that comes with fracking. It is a great way to help the economy in the United States. Fracking decreases the price of all petroleum products including the price in gas. When gas prices decrease it allows other products such as food, plastics, and other petroleum goods to also go down in price. With these savings being passed down to the consumers it makes the cost of living in America much easier for many people who are living with a minimum wage budget. Minimum wage going up in Oregon and gas prices declining creates a stir in people making them spend more and builds consumer confidence on what is spent. In turn this rapid spending creates a boom in the American economy. With fracking producing nine million barrels a day and decreasing prices by forty five
First what is hydraulic fracking? Hydraulic fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are infused into the stone at high weight which permits the gas to stream out to the leader of the well. Vinik talks about the positive side of fracking but he fails to mention the harm fracking causes. Fracking wastewater contains high levels of radioactivity and other contaminants that wastewater treatments plants have had difficulty removing; this potentially contaminated wastewater can than be discharged into local rivers.In Pennsylvania, more than 3,000 gas fracking wells and allowed well locales are situated inside two miles of 320 day mind focuses, 67 schools and nine healing centers. Fracking is prohibited.excluded from key government water insurances, and elected and state controller have permitted unchecked extension of fracking, making broad natural
Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is an oil and gas drilling process that is used to extract oil and natural gas from deep underground. Fracking is the cheapest route for oil and gas companies to make billions of dollars. The majority of the time the cheapest way is not always the best way of doing things. Hydraulic fracturing is not a good thing just because it makes money for--at times--everyone involved, as it causes our air and water to be polluted. There should be more regulations and laws to prevent contamination and protect our air and water from fracking pollution.
First what is hydraulic fracking? Hydraulic fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are infused into the stone at high weight which permits the gas to stream out to the leader of the well. Vinik talks about the positive side of fracking but he fails to mention the harm fracking causes. Fracking wastewater contains high levels of radioactivity and other contaminants that wastewater treatments plants have had difficulty removing; this potentially contaminated wastewater can than be discharged into local rivers.In Pennsylvania, more than 3,000 gas fracking wells and allowed well locales are situated inside two miles of 320 day mind focuses, 67 schools and nine healing centers. Fracking is prohibited.excluded from key government water insurances, and elected and state controller have permitted unchecked extension of
“Fracking is the process of obtaining Natural Gas from below Earth’s surface by drilling 1000’s of feet into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside.” Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well.” (Jackson). Hydraulic Fracturing got its name due to the fact of how the rock is fractured apart by the high pressure mixture of a number of chemicals, sand, and water. Drilling companies first began Fracking in the early 1940’s, and starting in the 1990’s companies began “safer drilling” due to the amount of concerns that had arisen because early drillers had to detonate small explosions that eventually ended up killing many people. Fracking has been used for nearly 60 years and the number of concerns about it are rising every day. Due to the new technological advancements in drilling Fracking has changed greatly over the years. Before, the drilling would go on for weeks on end in order to extract only a small amount of natural gas. Now, due to the invention of higher powered drills, the drills get double the amount then they used to be able to get in more then half the time. Over 95,000 square miles of shale deposits have been found around the Appalachian Basin but the only way to reach these deposits of shale is through fracking. “Fracking is a technique designed to recover gas and oil from shale rock by drilling
Fracking is preeminent problem, affecting the environment and communities of Virginia. King George and the Rappahannock River are especially being affected by the fracking activity in Virginia. Because the people of these areas are riddled with problems, fracking should be regulated closely. This should be done for the safety of the residents of King George and surrounding areas. Fracking endangers our communities, the environment, and our food and water sources, which is why is should be put to a stop.
Victoria Sandlin Professor Sharifian Government 2306-73434 15 April 2017 Sanctuary Cities Local government has been under attack lately in Texas; local control has an importance to the people attached to it that state government can’t compete with. Local control has been an effective way for getting Texas resident’s messages across to state control. The people of cities and counties greatly influence local control by advocating about the importance of certain powers, for example, fracking. Fracking has been known and proven to increase earthquakes in Texas, creating an importance to the Texan people that fracking is acknowledged and dealt with accordingly by the state government. Many are reaching out to local and state governments
Fracking is a major issue in our world right now, and yet it is still being done. Not everyone knows what fracking is, so let me explain. “Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand, and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out of the head of the well” (Shukman, David (2015), “What is fracking and why is it controversial?” http://www.bbc.com). There are tons of resources being put into fracking that is actually causing problems of its own. “Each gas well requires an average of 400 tanker trucks to carry water and supplies to and from the site” (N/A (2015),”Dangers of fracking”.
In the modern world, we have few similarities to our ancestors. However, there are a few aspects of our culture that have lasted through the centuries. One of the most prominent is our constant use of symbols and pictures to convey complicated messages. One of the reasons for this is the fact that pictures can touch our emotions in a way that few things can. This interaction with emotion is especially useful in arguments. The picture taken to protest fracking used this knowledge to strengthen their argument that fracking for oil is harmful because of contamination the process leaves behind.
“Fracking” isn’t a word that most people are familiar with unless they are well informed or active in local government or natural gas extraction. “Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves extracting natural gas from shale formations underground” (Collier, Galatas, Harrelson-Stephens, 2008). During the process known as fracking, millions of gallons of water are shot underground into shale formations to help bring the natural gas trapped inside the formations to be released so that it can surface and become available for extraction. This is the technique that is used for traditional fracking methods. Although fracking increases the states natural gas production, it also carries some negative side effects that are affecting the state and its people.
Even though I would need to do more research to have a more coherent opinion, I believe that fracking should not be practiced in the United States. My opinion is heavily based on the fact that fracking is still such a new discovery and that safe methods have not been identified. Thus, too many people are at risk for being exposed to contaminated drinking water (Jackson, 2014). The methane contamination of the drinking water is very concerning because it is very flammable, which can be incredibly dangerous to the citizens in the affected area (Hoffman, 2016). Thirdly, the amount of pollutants that are released into the atmosphere is not safe for people to inhale. Both children and adults have been exposed to these pollutants, which have had severely negative effects. Lung disease is just one of the major negative health effects of fracking. Cancer and birth defects in infants are other incredibly disabling diseases that affect people in proximity to these wells (Kiely, 2016). Another issue that I find disturbing about the process of fracking is that the waste water wells are disposing of the chemical waste deep into the Earth’s crust. However, some of this chemical waste is disposed of in landfills, which, in turn, pollutes the groundwater (StateImpact, 2017). Overall, I find the process of fracking
In the United States, the people who are most likely to protest are active in protecting the environment or they live in a forest or river area that may be directly affected by any fracking happening there. People are against fracking because they do not like the pollution it can cause as well as believing some studies showing that it could lead to earthquakes. Many are concerned about the possible contamination of groundwater resources from the chemicals and water used to in the process of fracking. Many people do not want to give up their land for the government to use for fracking even if they receive compensation because the compensation is often less in value than the land they are sometimes being forced to give up to the government. Some people may like it because if
Imagine an economy in the United States if we were an oil exporting country, like those in the Middle East. The States falls victim to those countries because we do not export quite as much as they do. This problem could potentially be solved by upping the amount of oil and gas fracking. Then, that now unused oil can be sent out to other countries, turning a profit here. Although many people believe that it is harmful to the environment, and bad for the public around it. The largest being that it will contaminate the underground water supply. Despite this, many people can agree that it is overall beneficial. Hydraulic fracturing is essential to the United States, because it creates jobs, it generates income, it could potentially turn the economy around, and it is crucial to our energy production as a whole.
Around the world, countries are dependent on oil and more often than not, foreign oil. The U.S. is at a time where they believe buying foreign oil supports terrorism and hurts our economy. Shale formations deep underground that spread all over the U.S. have been found to contain natural gas. This includes the Marcellus Shale formation and the Utica Shale formation, which can be found all throughout New York State and down the East Coast (Hydro-Fracking pg.1). To get at this abundance of gas underground, hydraulic fracturing was invented, but this new method of gas extraction safe for the environment and for the people around it?