Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a method of extracting natural gas from underground by drilling and pumping large amounts of water beneath the Earth to open up natural gas deposits (Banerjee). Countries with large natural gas deposits, such as France and Bulgaria, have already banned the practice of hydraulic fracturing. Though fracking may seem like a new concept, it is not; about one million wells have been fracked since the mid-1900s in America (Brantley). Fracking has only become so controversial recently because the most current proposals have been in more residential areas. The most controversial natural gas deposits in the United States are the Marcellus Shale along Pennsylvania and New York and the Bakken formation in North Dakota. Many environmentalists are strongly against the practice of fracking because of the ecological issues such as potential groundwater contamination. Meanwhile, those in the oil industries are strongly encouraging hydraulic fracturing because of the economic benefits that it will bring for the United States such as more jobs (Tuthill). Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is ethical because it will bring a tremendous economic and energy boost to the United States. Fracking will bring Though those who are against the practice of hydraulic fracturing are concerned mainly about the environmental risks, they will feel a lot more secure if natural gas companies disclose some information. As Larry Kahaner states, “What some shareholders – at least those who put the question before yesterday’s meetings – and others want is for companies to issue full disclosure about individual fracking operations and the chemicals used during the process. Some companies counter that they already abide... ... middle of paper ... ... Web. 03 Nov. 2013. Brantley, Susan L., and Anna Meyendorff. “The Facts on Fracking.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 13 Mar. 2013. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. Kahaner, Larry. "The Fractured Ethics of Fracking." Gas Drilling Awareness for Cortland County. GDACC, 26 May 2011. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. Rieke, Richard D. and Malcolm O. Sillars. “American Value Systems.” Perspectives on Argument. Ed. Nancy V. Wood. New York: Pearson Education, 2012. 142-147. Print. “The Facts about Fracking.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 25 June 2011. Web. 02 Nov. 2013. Touryalai, Halah. “Fracking Is Misunderstood, It's The Key To Energy Self-Sufficiency.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 21 May 2012. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. Tuthill, Samantha-Rae. “Understanding Fracking: Arguments For and Against Natural Gas Extractions.” AccuWeather. AccuWeather, 09 Sept. 2013. Web. 08 Nov. 2013.
5. "What Is Fracking and Why Is It Controversial?" BBC News. BBC, 27 June 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Hassett, Kevin A., and Aparna Mathur. "American Enterprise Institute." Benefits of Hydraulic Fracking. American Enterprise Institute, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. .
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).
Kovats, Sari et al. “The Health Implications of Fracking.” Lancet 383.9919 (2014): 757– 8. Web.
...t decades but recently the government has been more involved trying to regulate fracturing processes so that they are safe to the environment and to the people. Although fracking is not very well accepted, many believe that fracking is the only way to extract natural gas and oil efficiently. While others believe that it is harmful to the drinking supply of water and to the environment as all other extractions of natural resources are. Today states, the House of Representatives, and the Senate are all working to help minimize the effects that hydraulic fracturing has within communities and the environment by enforcing stronger laws and regulations within fracturing wells and fracturing companies. Hydraulic fracturing provides sufficient and clean energy that will help minimize the impact on other natural resources that are used for energy as well.
Fracking is quickly becoming a debatable topic in our society today. The practice involves injecting fluid into the ground to fracture rock in order to release natural gas. It sounds like it would be a safe way to harness fuels in the earth’s surface, but it actually is a danger to our environment. Because of the dangers of fracking, what little fresh water remains on earth is being contaminated. It is also releasing toxins into the airs creating contaminated air and acid rain. Because of the many health and environmental dangers of fracking, it should be stopped immediately to help prevent more worldwide health issues down the road.
"Pros and Cons of Fracking: 5 Key Issues." Yale Climate Connections. N.p., 12 Apr. 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.
In his article “How Fracking Is Bad for Our Bodies,” Jason Silverstein who is a lecturer and writer in residence in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School states the problem of hydraulic fracking in cities in the US. Silverstein article, which was published in, The Atlantic, on October 8, 2013, shows the problems caused by hydraulic fracking. Although Silverstein provides a wide array of disadvantages of fracking, he does not mention any advantages brought by fracking.
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...
Fracking, has begun to rise in popularity over the past few years. Its sends tons of water and chemicals beneath the Earth’s surface to gain access to natural gas. Its has become useful but it's not something our society should rely on.It's an unnecessary risk
environmental damage mounting, the practice of fracking has only quietly expanded and profited. This concealed expansion into the nation’s backyard has only
Controversy has never been in short supply. One controversy in particular is always being discussed. And that is the topic of fracking. What is fracking? Fracking is actually short for hydraulic fracturing. According to Merriam-Webster, hydraulic fracturing is the injection of fluid into shale beds at high pressure in order to free up petroleum resources such as oil and natural gas. Although, the process has around for a long time, since 1947 to be exact, is has only become controversial as of recently. Fracking has come under fire because mega-companies, like ExxonMobil, have commercialized it. They are the largest producers of natural gas (Thompson “Hydraulic Fracturing Can Be Done Responsibly”). Fracking has been such a controversial topic in the United States because of its environmental impact, effect on the economy and politics, and concerns to public health.
If you are a person who follows news about environmental issues, you might know about fracking. Many companies use this method to extract natural gas from the ground. Fracking can cause many issues, as any environmental activist can tell you. At the same time, fracking can help economically, as any business owner can tell you. Many arguments have risen due to these disagreements about both sides.
Fracking is a method of obtaining oil and natural gas from deep areas of the earth by mining very deep into the ground and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture the rock. When the rock is fractured, natural gas is released and harvested by large hydraulic fracturing rigs (Brooks, 2013). Though the process is an effective way of obtaining energy sources, it is a highly controversial topic so it is not massively used worldwide. Fracking works great and provides effective results but there is a diverse amount of downsides to the mining technique that have caused many people to take anti-fracking stances. The main argument against fracking is that it comes with environmental downsides, using immense amounts of water, infecting the earth with hazardous chemicals, and leaking methane into the atmosphere. Though many of the environmental downsides of fracking have been proven, the benefits of the energy source outweigh the downsides.
Fracking is the destructive process of injecting millions of gallons of chemical filled water down into the ancient rock to extract the natural gasses from within. Emily Griswold, an award-winning American Journalist and poet from Princeton University was published in The New York Times speaking on the issues of fracking. Griswold indicates in her article that there are two kinds of people when it comes to the issue of fracking: people who love the idea of using natural gas and would rather have all the jobs created to help the economy or people who see it as one of the biggest issues the US is currently facing due to the amount of problems it brings with it.