Is Fracking a Good Idea?
In 2000, shale beds provided just 1 percent of America’s natural gas supply. Today, that figure stands at nearly 25 percent.
Most of that production increase is due to the growing popularity of hydraulic fracturing--known colloquially as “fracking”--a process used to release oil or gas from underground formations that are otherwise too difficult to mine. Over the past few years, advances in fracking technology have made tremendous reserves of natural gas in the United States economically recoverable for the first time. According to the Energy Information Administration, shale gas plays, or fields, in the United States--most notably the Marcellus, in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York, and the Barnett, in Texas--are said to contain enough natural gas to power the country for 110 years. With the enticing specter of energy independence in the balance, some have argued that such efforts to recover natural gas need to be expanded. Activists concerned with fracking’s potential environmental hazards view the process as a serious threat.
The process of fracking creates fractures that extend from wells into oil and gas formations by pumping highly-pressurized fluid--water, sand, ceramic beads, and a mixture of chemicals--into the oil or gas formation. As this fluid holds the underground fissures open, oil and gas flow up the well to the surface where they can be recovered. Water makes up an overwhelmingly high percentage of fracking fluid, but a congressional Democrat report released in April identified about 750 chemicals that have also been used in the process, 29 of which are either likely or known carcinogens. That fluid also flows back up the well, and is stored in open pits until it can be sent to a treatment plant. Depending upon local geology, a variable amount of fracking fluid remains in the ground after a well has run dry. Likewise, fracking is known to produce airborne pollutants like methane, benzene, and sulfur oxide, and the EPA has recently targeted this pollution and plans to set strict guidelines to reduce it.
Is fracking a good idea? Here is the Debate Club’s take:
The Arguments
No — The gas industry promises to "do it right," but there is no such thing
JOHN DETWILER, Private Citizen with Marcellus Shale Protest Comment (13)
No — Fracking unleashes carcinogens and other chemicals that are toxic to biological life
TRACY CARLUCCIO, Deputy Director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network Comment (4)
No — An impotent government regulatory body is a recipe for disaster
SCOTT M. STRINGER, Manhattan Borough President Comment (10)
No — Use foresight to get smart regulations in place, then we can talk about fracking
TRENT DOUGHERTY, Director of Legal Affairs for the Ohio Environmental Council Comment (3)
Yes — Wind and solar power are intermittent and require coal and natural gas backup
JON OLSON, Associate Professor in the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin Comment (7)
Yes — The economic benefits of the shale gas boom outweigh unproven risks
DANIEL SIMMONS, Director of State Affairs at the Institute for Energy Research Comment (24)
Yes — Worried about chemicals used in fracking fluid? Let's break it down for you
CHRIS FAULKNER, Founder, President, and CEO of Breitling Oil and Gas Comment (8)
Yes — Advances mean even more energy without a significant threat to groundwater
LEE FULLER, Vice President of Government Relations for the Independent Petroleum Association of America Comment (5)
Yes — The Marcellus Shale has become a potent economic engine for Pennsylvania
GREGG LASKOSKI, Senior Petroleum Analyst for GasBuddy.com Comment (7)
