The Case For Reregulation Of Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic fracturing also called fracking has been around for many years despite the recent events of controversy to continue fracturing or not. With the earth’s resources depleting rapidly every year and no sufficient replacement for energy humanity needs fracking. The process of fracking has been around for more than six decades. Fracking has been around since the 1940s and was created to increase the removal flow of oil and natural gas. In the words of chemical engineer Robert Rapier “Fracking involves pumping water, chemicals, and a proppant down an oil or gas well under high pressure to break open channels in the rock holding the oil or gas (Rapier).” A proppant can be different materials,

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.

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, is a drilling method used for extracting oil or natural gas from deep underground. Fracking is a problem that not many see as controversial. Each human being depends on daily energy, as long as they see the cost for use of energy is cheap they won't question the actual effects it may present to the environment. The energy sources can be mined or pumped from locations worldwide. Each technique for extraction of the resource is having serious impacts on wildlife. Even worse is that fracking can have a serious impact on our water supply. Large amounts of gas now is available due to high use amount of fracking. Though fracking is used worldwide to extract gas and oil, a fracking boom has occurred

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,

Hydraulic fracturing is an increasingly common practice used to access otherwise unobtainable oil or natural gas reserves. While it shows promise as both a valuable economic resource as well as a source of energy independence, many oppose the practice due to alleged environmental dangers. In order to foster a greater understanding of the issues at hand, the following topics are discussed: what hydraulic fracturing is, how it is performed, and where it is located in the United States and abroad; how it has benefited the United States’ economy and how it can support the United States’ energy needs; legal and environmental issues; domestic and overseas regulations; and last but not least, what President Obama had to say about the practice in his 2012 Executive Order. The paper concludes with the author’s personal opinion regarding regulation of the practice here in the United States.

Hydraulic fracturing in combination with advancement in directional drilling has made it possible to economically extract oil and gas from unconventional resources. The growth in U.S. oil and gas exploration and production made possible by the increase in use of hydraulic fracturing, has raised concerns about its potential to impact human health and the environment. Concerns have been raised by the public about the effects of hydraulic fracturing on quality and quantity of drinking water resources. The hydraulic fracturing water cycle includes five main activities: the withdrawal of ground or surface water needed for hydraulic fracturing fluids; the mixing of water, chemicals, and proppant on the well pad to create the hydraulic fracturing fluid; the injection of hydraulic fracturing fluids into the well to fracture the formation, the return of injected fluid and water produced from the formation to the surface; and the reuse, treatment and disposal of wastewater generated at the well pad, including produced water (U.S. EPA, 2015). With the water cycle being so massive and prolonged, the presence of potential negative impacts is greatly increased.

Hydraulic fracturing is a public policy that devises the query of whether the economics of the process justifies the risks because it boosts jobs based on inexpensive industrial inputs, but at the same time, is at the center of several controversies concerning environmental law, economic growth, and public health. Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is a process to release natural gas and oil from the ground. The contemporary period of fracking correlates to the progressive era conservation movement during 1890-1960 because both reveal the idea that humans have dominion or control over the environment. According to the progressive era, humans must plan their use of fracking to make sure it maximizes wealth and preserves the environment in the future. The debate between the advocates and the opponents argue if economics prevail over the risks involved in fracking. Nonetheless, the negative influences on

Hydraulic fracturing, or also known as fracking, is a technique that is used to recover oil and gases directing coming from rocks that we have lost. The process, which tends to be successful in recovering these resources, can be controversial against many citizens. Since fracking consists of water, sand, and other chemicals being injected into the deep rocks underground, the high pressure of drilling down into the earth with this mixture allows the gas to flow out. This technique is rather effective and useful for the industry; its results making it possible for businesses to use the sources we’ve wasted and used. However, what gets many people riling against the procedure is that fracking can also result in water contamination. Recognizing that water contamination is already a national issue that all governments have a desire to resolve, the population is skeptical towards why industries are allowing such method of regaining oils and gases to pollute their water.With the help of the several sources, it was made easier to come to a conclusion in agreeing or disagreeing if fracking should be used to release oil and gas or not.

Americans have had an insatiable appetite for the consumption of fossil fuels. Since the Industrial Revolution our preference had evolved from coal to oil, petroleum, and natural gas. Over the last century we’ve gone from drilling our own wells to building pipelines to importing fossil fuels from the Middle East, Venezuela, Canada and Russia, and today we are back producing our own fuel through a process called fracking. Fracking is the direct result of energy companies using cutting edge technologies to combine the processes of traditional hydraulic drilling and horizontal drilling, which allows us to effectively harvest natural gas here in the United States

In the United States; most notably the Marcellus, in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York, and in Texas are said to contain enough natural gas power the country for 110 years. In 2000, shale beds provided 1 percent of America’s natural gas supply. Today, that figure stands at nearly 25 percent. Most of that population increase is due to the growing popularity of hydraulic fracturing. With the enticing specter of energy independence in the balance, some have argued that such efforts to recover gas need to be expanded. While some activists believe that fracking’s potential environment hazards view the process as a serious threat. Water makes up a high percentage of fracking fluid that fluid also flows back up the well, and is stored in open pits until it can be sent to a treatment plant. A variable amount of

Hydraulic fracturing is a divisive issue in the United States. One side argues that hydraulic fracturing has the potential to create jobs and prop up the economy while the other side argues that the resulting environmental damage from hydraulic fracturing greatly outweighs any potential benefits. A lot of evidence seems to support the opponents of hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing should be banned because it can cause great harm to the environment; it can lead to geological disasters and has the potential to negatively affect the health of those in surrounding areas.

Have you ever imagine the earth run out of resources, especially gasoline? The most significant energy we use to take for granted may be in tight supply. It would be a major inconvenience for us. That’s why I am here to discuss about it, that’s why I am here to save the earth, and that’s why I want all of you to join with me today. With fossil fuels nearing extinction, the United States has very limited options for providing the country’s millions of energy consumers with an energy source that is affordable and cost effective ; therefore, the solution is hydraulic fracking, also known as “fracking,” Natural Gas has the capabilities of fueling American cars and homes for the next hundred years, and the best part is the United States is the largest supplier of natural gas. Let’s broke it down to 3 major parts: first, how fracking natural gas affects our environment, second how it is going to boost up the economy, and third how it makes the United States becomes energy independent.

Development of infrastructure and market for natural gas, a product of hydraulic fracking, has blossomed in recent years. Interestingly though, hydraulic fracturing, a process that’s been around since the early 1900s, has recently become a topic of significant controversy, especially through the expansion of large reservoirs throughout the United States, including the Barnett Shale, the Marcellus, and the Bakken. However, the unsustainable nature of hydraulic fracking demands that US attention be focused on expanding renewable infrastructure and bolstering actual sustainable development; hydraulic fracking is an economic distraction fueled by big business, and the benefits are grossly temporary. Simply stated, investment and expansion of the natural gas industry in the United States is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. First, the paper will provide an outline of exactly why investment and development of hydraulic fracturing in the US is not sustainable. This will be accomplished by looking at the economics of natural gas fracturing, as well as the environmental effects and the public health impacts. Then further evaluation will provide insight on the practicality and necessity of national investment in renewable infrastructure to catalyze the nation into a global future.

shale source rocks using fracking is about 42 trillion cubic meters. . . equivalent to about 65 times the current U.S. annual consumption” (Howarth, Ingraffea, & Engelder, pp. 271-274). The following year, in his State of the Union Address, President Obama (2012) commented, “We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years.” Furthermore, advances in hydraulic fracturing technology have enabled an exponential increase in U.S. gas production, which had already reached 10 trillion cubic meters by 2012, “turning the United States into an unexpected technology-driven ‘petrostate’ of a type never seen before” (Golden & Wiseman, 2015, p. 966). Consequently, the United States is now largely energy-independent with sufficient fuel reserves and the means of production to support its energy needs for the foreseeable future.

In Figure 1, the graph shows how the percentage of wells and how much water can be used on during single fracturing job. It may not seem like much is being used, but 45% of fracturing wells tended to use over two million gallons per site, and there was approximately 2700 wells fractured in the data collected from 2010 to 2011 by the FracFocus database. The estimated average for hydraulic fracturing sites is the usage of five million gallons, which does not correlate with the graph correctly. Fracturing sites can be drilled more than once, so the average will tend to correlate correctly with being 5 million gallons.