The Boom Summary

For the past twenty to thirty years, hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, has been the number one source of natural gas, oil, and energy in the United States. The process of fracking is that a well is built above the ground and then a drill digs several thousand feet deep into the ground to extract the oil and natural gas that is trapped inside of rock formations. Fracking is very controversial because of the cost of the process and the environmental “threats” that it poses. From methane emissions to earthquakes, fracking has been accused to be linked with several environmental issues. To prevent any environmental dangers, states place regulations and boundaries that energy companies have to follow in order to build a well and keep it up and running. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) also works with states to help regulate these wells. More importantly, fracking in the United States is very important and acts as a bridge to the future. While it may be argued that hydraulic fracturing is not beneficial to the economy and harmful to the environment, fracking in the United States should not be banned because fracking is not only imperative to the growth of jobs and the economy, but it also does not put the surrounding environment in danger.

the desire to achieve independence from foreign energy sources” (Ben Harris). “The environmental safety of fracking has yet to be conclusively demonstrated, they say, and the industry has a poor track record”(Ben

In recent years, the subject of hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking has been a constant subject of interest in the news media. The pros and cons of fracking are passionately debated. However, the public should become educated on the subject of fracking prior to choosing a side of the argument. In the scholarly article, “Super Fracking,” published in 2014, by Donald L. Trucotte, Eldridge M. Moores, and John B. Rundle, a detailed description of fracking is provided, followed by their analysis of current issues surrounding the controversy. According to Trucotte, Moores, and Rundle, fracking saves the consumer money. The wellhead cost to produce natural gas in January of 2000 was two dollars and sixty cents per one thousand cubic feet. At an alarming rate, the cost at the wellhead to produce natural gas had risen to eight dollars per one thousand cubic feet by January of 2006. Comfortingly, the wellhead cost dropped to two dollars and eighty-nine cents by the end of 2012. Impressively, gas production increase and price decrease over the time period are a result of fracking. In their article, Trucotte, Moores, and Rundle describe in great detail that hydraulic fracturing, most commonly referred to as fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth to fracture the layers of rock so that a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the oil or natural gas inside. This method of fracking has been used commercially for the last fifty years.

Possible story: some analogy of something that was a good, necessary idea but just put off the inevitable and had a negative affect than fix it.

Russell Gold, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, wrote a book entitled, The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World. In his book he begins by telling a personal story of how he has been affected by the “energy revolution." His parents, along with their friends, owned about 102 acres of land in Pennsylvania that was thought to have oil beneath it. The story begins when his parents were offered money by an oil company in order to get the rights to drill for oil on the property owned by them and their friends. His parents debate over it for a while, even asking his opinion on the matter, but would eventually come to the

This debate covered the controversial issue of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The two sides that can be taken within this debate are, Bruce McKenzie Everett’s side or John Rumpler’s side. Everett believes that hydraulic fracturing is completely worth it, due to the fact that the economic benefits outweigh the negative impacts on our environment. While Rumpler argues that there are very crucial tolls fracking is taking on our environment, and also our health. Throughout the article there are 6 question proposed to each person. The first, and maybe most important, question asked is ‘is fracking safe?’ Everett responds first by saying that nothing in the world is entirely safe, and then continues to nullify the multitude of threats fracking

The documentary Gasland, directed and narrated by Josh Fox, tells the frightening story of corporate greed and a lack of concern for the negative effects of natural gas drilling called fracking. The story begins with Josh receiving a letter from a natural gas company seeking permission to drill on his family’s Pennsylvania estate in exchange for $100,000. In an effort to decide whether to accept the deal, Josh drives from state to state interviewing scientists, politicians and mostly working class people being affected by this method of natural gas extraction. In areas where people welcomed the additional income and allowed fracking on their property thinking this process was safe, they were now experiencing unclean underground water that is igniting, animals that are losing their hair

Fracking explained: opportunity or danger. YouTube. N.p., 3 Sept. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2016. .

With proper management of risks, the use of fracking (which he notes the public is very much against), can be extremely advantageous, even though in the northeast, he says “gas companies are demonized as Satan.” Once again, that is a strong, negative statement against his side, but taken in context sounds ridiculous. In that case, throughout the whole essay he uses statements that others say about his side, which sound laughably crazy. He does end on a note that to not use this gift of shale gas would be a crime (Brooks 240). Throughout the whole essay, the way he delegitimizes his argument but builds it back up through use of clever rhetoric and shifting tones convinces the reader that the gathering of shale gas through fracking is actually the best, economic and practical

The global crisis surrounding energy needs grows in severity as time goes by and in order to solve it, scientists have created the innovative solution known as hydraulic fracturing (Source 5). Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as “fracking,” is a process that injects water, chemicals, sand, and other materials into layers of shale. The injected mixture cracks the layers of shale, releasing trapped natural gasses that can be collected (Source 1). Fracking occurs deep under the surface of the earth, miles below the groundwater that is accessed from drinking-water wells. In the mid-2000s, “fuel prices were rising rapidly” (Source 5). Hydraulic fracturing was a cheap solution that not only brought the world out of a state of emergency but made oil prices drop. The new method of gas collection grew the oil and gas industry, benefiting people all around the world. Fracking is a cheap, effective solution to global needs, but is under attack from skeptics who worry about environmental hazards. The claims against fracking not only have no real evidence but also risk destroying the jobs in the oil and gas industry as well as support for energy needs. Hydraulic fracturing is not only a cheap but a safe method that supports global needs surrounding both energy and jobs.

Hydraulic fracturing, or more commonly known as fracking, is the process of releasing gasses trapped in rocks such as sandstones, limestones, and shales through methods such as pumping pressurized water into the rock. In doing so, the rock is broken apart and the release of gas is expedited (Brantley and Meyendorff, "Facts on Fracking"). As a reporter located in Pennsylvania, I aim to inform my viewers on the harmful effects associated with fracking, both environmental and personal, and how the short-term economic benefits of fracking should not overpower the health of people and the earth. In a recent study, it was revealed that fracking wastewater disposal sites were heavily concentrated in less affluent areas home to poor and minority residents

Fracking has actually changed out future as we know it, and has made it possible for many things. Fracking will make the world run on natural fossil fuels for much longer, which is also better for the environment and us. In 2015, the U.S. reached its all time high in oil production in 14 years and is only expected to continually rise. Oil production in the U.S. is one of the main sources of jobs for people living in the U.S. (Nunez, 2013). Fracking is a good way to employ U.S. citizens and is also a good way to get natural ways of oil production. As we all

Russell Gold, an award winning journalist, states in The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World:

The fracking industry in its entirety, although surrounded by a shroud of controversy, is an economic stimulator that many do not acknowledge. The potential replacement of coal for efficient and clean energy would not be possible if it weren’t for the utilization of hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, and horizontal drilling. To consider fracking as only a danger to the environment would be an overstatement while saying fracking only provides natural gas and nothing else is an understatement. It’s important to consider all of the potential benefits that fracking gives to the economy and how its minor environmental destruction could lead to an economic reconstruction. Although fracking has a negative connotation with most people,

Gary Sernovitz the author breaks this novel into different sections (chapters) in order to clarify the difference between oil and natural gas; and the different processes that take place. His way of doing this is by breaking the book down into perspectives since fracking does have it’s pro’s and con’s; depending on the level in which it is occurring from the people who are against fracking to the oil industries. The first section is about the “Industrial Perspective”, the second section is titled “The Local Perspective”, next is the “ Financial Perspective”, the fourth section is the “Global Perspective”, the final section is “The National