Fracking Means Lower Prices AND Less Enviro Damage

I'm a little confused here - this article doesn't tell us just how dirty coal really is and just how important it is for our immediate future. At any rate, natural gas is definitely is now, and in the future, a stable source of energy that will off set coal and nuclear power. We have such a huge supply of it that to not exploit it would be nonsense. Oil is also a very vital part of our natural energy production and will be for decades to come. And if you didn't already know, we have a huge supply of oil as well that is estimated to last for more then 100 years.

But as everyone that is awake these days to the media, environmentalists, drum beat for all sources of fossil fuels to be abandoned, they produce too much green house gases, which would mean living a forced substandard life style. By the way, humans do produce CO2 as well and all plant life depends on this gas to survive. hmmmmm

This, of course, is exactly what the 'warmers' want. The facts in the matter that there is no 'man made climate change' are only confusing to the agenda that demands we all regress to the 1800's living standards.

The smartest minds in the world have decided this what is best for everyone. Everyone except them which will live in Washington and have all the benefits of the modern life style.

Hey, someone has to lead the 'unwashed' to their ultimate reward, right?

Fracking Cuts Greenhouse Gases
Source: Adam Peshek, "Fracking Cuts Greenhouse Gases," Reason Foundation, March 19, 2012.

While the Environmental Protection Agency continues its crusade against emissions by championing renewable energy and regulating automobile manufacturers, the benefits of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) have gone relatively unreported.

The fracking revolution in the United States that will produce enormous amounts of natural gas will also have the net impact of cutting emissions, says Adam Peshek, a research associate at the Reason Foundation.

This reduction, which is yielded indirectly by the implementation of fracking, is achieved by the process' contributions to the efficiency of natural gas production. Fracking enables miners to produce roughly eight times as much natural gas per well, lowering costs and producing gas at a lower rate.

Because fracking has allowed greater access to natural gas trapped in shale rock formations, production has skyrocketed and prices have plummeted. Gas prices dropped from $12 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in June 2008 to less than $4 per MMbtu in September 2009. During that time, the cost of generating electricity from natural gas plants fell an average of about 4 cents per kilowatt.

Gas prices have continued to plummet since then, falling to a historic low of $2.30 MMBtu today.
These lower prices have incentivized electric utilities to switch from dirtier coal to cleaner-burning gas. This has the aggregate effect of producing more electricity for American consumers while reducing emissions from the sector.

Natural gas plants emit roughly half the greenhouse gases that coal-fired plants emit.

According to a recent study, the United States emitted nearly 9 percent less carbon dioxide in 2009 than it did in 2008, mostly due to the wider employment of natural gas. Because prices of natural gas have continued to plummet since then as more firms move into the sector, further gains are likely to be realized.

These advances have also resulted in American exports of liquefied natural gas, which means that these reductions in emissions will be realized by America's trade partners as well, while simultaneously helping to correct America's trade balance.