Thursday, February 12, 2015

Fracking Myths : Environmental Insantiy Run Wild



Fracking for fossils fuels is a rich target for the progressive socialist liberal democrats as it brings prosperity to states, and more important, individuals that find good paying jobs. Proof? North Dakota or any other state that has a fracking policy. Average wage for fracking industry is $120,000.

That fracking causes earth quakes begs the understanding of who brings this narrative to the public and the motivating reasons. The science is clear and the history of fracking over the last 60 years shows no effect on ground water or causes earth quakes. Insanity gone wild.

The insanity is understandable that those that are front an center on the topic are wholly invested in pushing solar, wind and biofuel production whether they are a viable substitute or not. To the environmentalists and progressive democrats, all the same people, it just seems like the right thing to do, and it's a great source of revenue for the protester.

One case in point - a woman I know believes that the entire state of North Dakota, in time, will collapse in on itself due to fracking and horizontal drilling. I wonder how many other apparently mentally sound poeple can be grouped with this woman?

Debunking Fracking Myths
Source: Arthur Herman, "The Liberal War on American Energy Independence," Hudson Institute, January 29, 2015.

February 10, 2015

While fracking has sent oil and gas prices falling and created high-wage jobs for Americans across resource-rich states, the practice has garnered its fair share of critics, with detractors insisting fracking dirties water and causes earthquakes. Is that really the case?

Arthur Herman of the Hudson Institute says criticisms of fracking are overblown. While opponents argue that fracking can contaminate groundwater, Herman says fracking takes place thousands of feet below the aquifer (a body of rock from which water can be extracted), posing no risk to drinking water. Additionally, he notes that there are no documented cases of groundwater contamination, yet there are thousands of fracking wells in the United States and its neighbor Canada.

Similarly, opponents contend fracking exposes people to dangerous chemicals such as benzene. In fact, Herman says the fluid used to fracture rock is more than 99 percent sand and water -- the risks associated with contact with chemicals such as benzene or methane, for example, is not any higher than in other industrial jobs.

Does fracking send methane into our drinking water? According to a Duke University study, it does. But Herman says the study was wildly flawed -- not only did it look at just 68 wells in an area that had 20,000 water wells, but it did not look to see whether there were concentrations of methane prior to fracking (which, Herman notes, there were).

Lastly, Herman cites another benefit of fracking -- the natural gas derived from fracking will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, emissions in the United States have fallen by almost 20 percent since the fracking boom.

 

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