Every resource on our planet is limited. This is not surprising information as humans have known this since the beginning of existence. Eventually, oil and other resources will no longer be viable sources of energy because they will be depleted. The simple answer to this inevitable issue is hydraulic fracturing. It is currently a controversial means of finding energy and was argued both ways by Josh Fox in his film Gasland as well as Phelim McAleer in his documentary FrackNation. Hydraulic fracturing, better known as “fracking”, is a safe and efficient way to acquire the copious amounts of energy needed to power the earth. In Gasland, the viewers are shown the dangers of fracking. Fox tells a frightening tale of water that catches fire, toxins …show more content…
He set the record state by tracing Josh Fox’s footsteps in Gasland. One of the most important discoveries found in his research was the absence of toxic water in Dimock, Pennsylvania. Other interviews and research uncovered citizens with no health issues as a result of fracking unlike Josh Fox’s take on children acquiring asthma and older men and women with cancer. The scientists involved in the film speak in a clear, and understandable voice and explain those nasty sounding chemicals that frightened Gasland viewers. Seismic activity near fracking sites was also analyzed and found to show no direct effect on earthquake happenings. McAleer also makes a point to show why fracking should be available in other countries. A poor, old woman in Russia explains her extremely high energy bills are causing her to sell her belongings. The documentary is narrated and filmed in a way that triumphed over Gasland in every aspect.
Overall, FrackNation gives a better argument using ethos, pathos, and logos while Gasland simply utilizes ethos and pathos while leaving out almost any logos. Fox’s documentary was entirely based on fear and the warrant that fracking is damaging to the environment and its people. McAleer’s take was based on research and the warrant that fracking is beneficial to the earth and all inhabitants. FrackNation is the clear winner of this debate and should receive a brighter spotlight than the pathos filled
In the video “Fracking Hell: The Untold Story” by Link TV explains how natural gas has been a huge problem not only for the earth in general but for everyone and everything living in it. The video explains how North East of Pennsylvania is having difficulties to conserve a healthy environment and people. North East of Pennsylvania is the main sources to extract gas and send it throughout the United States for gasoline and so on. However, this action is wonderful for the cost of gas, but has a huge impact on the environment and the people living in Pennsylvania. A lot of people in this state are worried having health issues because everything is not usable is being thrown out to the rivers where they get their fresh water.
The documentary ‘Gasland” is a telling tale of the terrible consequences of natural gas mining in the US. The filmmaker, Josh Fox, travels around the country visiting different homes that are in very close proximity of natural gas drilling sites after receiving a $100,000 offer from a natural gas company to use his land as a drilling site . The film focuses on how the drilling sites not only leave ugly scars on the land, but also the horrendous health problems people get from drinking the contaminated groundwater.
The oil and gas industry has been met with increasing opposition over the years, with fracking and water pollution being some of the most controversial subjects alongside others like pollution, global warming, and claims of corruption. While some anti-frack claims seem like viable arguments, many are the product of misconceptions, an uninformed public. One of the greatest examples of this is Josh Fox’s 2010 documentary GasLand, whose most memorable scene showed a man in Fort Lupton, Colorado, lighting his faucet on fire, blaming it on hydraulic fracturing. After the film was released, among numerous errors it contained, it was found that the water well contained naturally occurring biogenic gas unrelated to oil and gas activity (Energy In Depth).
In today's global economy, energy is one of the most crucial and sought after commodities. Who supplies it and how much they supply determines how much influence they have over other countries as well as the global economy. This is why hydraulic fracturing is currently such an important and controversial topic in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as "fracking" or hydrofracturing, is the process of using pressurized liquids to fracture rocks and release hydrocarbons such as shale gas, which burns more efficiently than coal. This booming process of energy production provides a much needed economic boost, creating jobs and providing gas energy for Americans.
Marcellus Shale drilling causes a problem because it involves the use of hundreds of deadly chemicals. Over three hundred chemicals are used in the Marcellus Shale drilling process (Environmental). According to Howells, author of the article “Don’t Frack with Our Water!,” these chemicals are especially dangerous because the companies that use them will not tell the public what specific chemicals are being used. However, through studies of the chemicals, some of them can be identified. Some of the chemicals in the fracking fluid and wastewater have been identified as carcinogens. Many of the other chemicals have been found to be harmful to humans (Environmental). According to Griswold, author of the article “The Fracturing of Pennsylvania,” wastewater is a combination of different chemicals that come from the process of fracking. Not only does this wastewater contain chemicals that were originally used in the drilling, but it also contains harmful substances that come from the earth like salts and other compounds (Griswold).
Fracking can cause harm to people, animals, and nature. When they drill into the ground they are pumping chemicals to extract the gas and oil, and this contaminates the water sources around it. “An editorial on gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale in the Post-Star, a newspaper in Glens Falls, New York, contends, “New York state simply can’t take the risk. There are plenty of places to find fuel. It’s not so easy to find a new water supply for 17 million people.”” (Hydrofracking
In the documentary Gasland the main concerns of Josh Fox regarding hydraulic fracturing were the industry was highly unregulated and reckless which caused the contamination of ground and drinking water which was the cause of illness.. The most important concern Josh had was hydraulic fracturing was causing the contamination of peoples ground and drinking water. He claims hydraulic fracturing is causing gases such as methane and heavy metals such as mercury, use...
She goes out to find the actual facts about fracking and the impact on the environment. As the movie goes on, the experts say that the chemicals used in the fracking process don’t go up to the surface, that natural gas poses no threat to the environment-it actually prevents damages caused from strip mining and other methods to get coal- and that Josh Fox misrepresented the oil drilling process, including the fact that it was impossible to frack into an underground water zone. The woman’s voice while she said “experts” and phrases like “I might as go to the best” and “I know which believe it rather than believing some New York reporter who makes movies for a living.” Her voice and the so called “Experts” responses reeks of funding from gas companies. How shameful claiming that she is just a school teacher looking for answers for her kids and assuring herself of the water she is using is safe. Several people claimed that they had no problems with the gas companies drilling and some say that their water was contaminated with methane when there is no drilling involved. To make it more believable, one person lighted his sink when there was no drilling around and a person blew the sturdy construction off from the whole and it came out intact. In the movie, Lisa Jackson, the head of the EPA says that fracking has not caused any problems that people say it did and it is clean but it requires smart regulation and responsible companies. To make matters worse, the movie showed reports of improper
Hydraulic fracturing aka “fracking” is the mechanical process that uses fluids and other macro sized materials to create small fractures in the shale and bed rock under surfaces of the earth. The fractures, usually no more than an inch wide, allow the highly pressurized oil and natural gas to flow freely to the pipe to the pumped back to the surface. The first known commercial use of hydraulic fracking first came about during the 1940s but dates all the way back 1865 during the Civil War. To increase their available water supply, which in some cases meant the difference between life and death, soldiers would drop sticks of lit dynamite down dry wells or those with low water levels. They hoped by doing this that that explosion from the dynamite would deepen or loosen the ground to allow water to permeate to an accessible point.
Before one can see the devastating effects of fracking, one must first understand how fracking works. As previously stated, the main intent of hydro-fracking is to access and harvest natural gas that lies below the surface of the Earth. Having formed over 400 million years ago by the collision of tectonic plates (Marsa 3), the Marcellus Shale plays host to a gold mine of natural gas, which is currently at the center of the fracking debate in the Northeastern region of the United States. Unfortunately, access...
The people who are being asked permission to transform their land into drilling sites for natural gas have more reason to be concerned than most because it will affect them more directly than people who do not live in that specific area (although it does affect people who do not live in the vicinity as well). Although fracking may seem to concern to only a small group of people, it should also concern anyone who cares about doing what is safe for our country's citizens. The truth is, fracking is extremely dangerous, not only because of the negative effects on the environment, but also because it could make people ill.
In the day and age, we live in there is a shortcoming of fuel and resources, but people keep calling forth advances in the field of renewable energy, but there is not much drive behind their calling. We have to conform to the methods being used in this day and age, but the most complicated and yet controversial method is hydraulic fracking for oil and gas. Hydraulic fracking comes at a great cost. Some of the cost of hydraulic fracking include but are not limited to the water pollution caused by this process and the inevitable damage to the area where the gas and oil were extracted from. In the process of fracking, there is a need to vent the gas build up thus creating more air pollution that is only part of their total air pollution, the heavy machinery used for hydraulic fracking also emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Aside those risk, there is the biggest concern is the damage it may cause to livestock and agriculture.
"Everybody presumes that the government is there to protect you,” Bryan Latkanich says in an interview with Marketplace. "If they were here to protect you, they wouldn't let this go on at all.” Latkanich is talking about hydraulic fracturing or fracking. Fracking has endangered the health risks of his family, along with many people around the world. Fracking harms countless people and their surroundings in various ways. Fracking contributes to climate change, releases toxic chemicals into the environment, and pollutes drinking water.
environmental damage mounting, the practice of fracking has only quietly expanded and profited. This concealed expansion into the nation’s backyard has only
Fracking is a pressurized, chemically treated mixture of water and sand to release and extract natural gas and petroleum from shale rock. There are many articles, studies being done, and organizations fighting for what they think is right. Environmentalist want the technique of fracking banned because it plays a part in global warming, affects our water, and causes human health problems. If fracking cannot be banned because of its necessity then it should be made safe and eco-friendly. The process involves a well being drilled vertically to the desired depth, then turns ninety degrees and continues horizontally for thousands of feet into the shale believed to contain the trapped natural gas. A mix of water, sand, and various chemicals is pumped into the well at high pressure in order to create fissures in the shale through which the gas can escape. Natural gas escapes through the fissures and is drawn back up the well to the surface, where it is processed, refined, and shipped to market. Flowback returns to the surface after the