Fracking a term that many people hear or see in today’s media. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, fracking means-”The process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks, boreholes, etc., so as to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas”. In today’s world, there is a high demand for natural resources such as natural gas and crude oil. These two, along with others, power our world and help us with numerous aspects throughout our everyday lives. But these sources are not eternally available; over the past few decades, they have known that sooner rather than later the world will run out of our natural resources. According to American GeoSciences, the U.S. uses 19.69 million barrels of crude oil every single day; putting us at the top of the list for the most oil consumption. But crude oil is not the only resource affected by fracking; natural gas is a resource that is heavily depended on more than the average citizen realizes. It can be used to power kitchen appliances, heat homes, power, and is also used on grills. While it doesn’t have as many commonly known uses as oil, it is a big part of our everyday lives. According to the EIA, the U.S. uses 27.5 Tcf’s (trillion cubic feet) of Natural gas every year; also putting the U.S. at the top of the consumption chart for that also.
Along with any other subject that has come across peoples minds in this world. There is bound to be some controversy; and like so, every aspect of the world around us today has its pro’s and con’s. One of the con’s that has become evidently clear to officials and scientists is the effect that fracking can have on earthquakes. According to an article in the Cape Times written by Andrzej Kijko in 2017, there have been at least 2 events known of earthquakes reaching over a 7.0 on the seismic scale due to the fracking process. The injection of liquids and sand, and drilling down puts stress on tectonic plates according to Kijko. But these are not the only cases, there have been numerous smaller earthquakes according to another new article written by Guarino from the Washington Post this year (2018). In that same article, it states that earthquakes are caused by cracks and movements in plates. By injecting chemicals into the ground and drilling, it causes hairline fractures or cracks that span out away from where the initial drilling occurred. This is why it is not uncommon for earthquakes to happen 15-20 miles away from the site of fracking.
While earthquakes are very substantial and affect hundreds of millions of people each year, drinking water is something every living being needs to survive. Like I had said earlier, fracking is injecting water, sand, and numerous amounts of chemicals into the ground to release deposits of natural gas and or crude oil. Which the ground is a huge source of fresh water that us as humans not only drink but wild animals and livestock being raised on farms and ranches. Not only is this water affecting animals, but it is also affecting the fruits and different crops that are grown that we as humans ingest.
“Federal officials have given energy and mining companies permission to pollute aquifers in more than 1,500 places across the country, releasing toxic material into underground reservoirs that help supply more than half of the nation’s drinking water”(Lustgarten, 2012). Not only is that scary, but the EPA is also doing nothing about it which is stated in the same article. They are giving permission to these big
corporations and companies to dump wastewater into reservoirs and drill next to them too. Another written by Ron Meader in 2012 from the Minnesota Post, states that 1 to 7 million gallons of water, chemicals, and sand are used during each time they drill for oil or gas. And only a third of that will ever return to the surface. So not only are they contaminating clean water, but wasting it as well.
Air. Something we breathe in without ever having to think about it. Humans can’t control what they breathe in at any given time. Fracking causes gases to come from many different things. “Condensate tanks, dehydrators, wastewater impoundment pits, and pipelines. The fracking process involves dozens of chemicals and the process returns oil, gas, fracking chemicals, formation brines, and mobilized compounds, including heavy metals and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) to the surface”(Srebotnjak, 2014)(pg. 4). But not only are we getting fumes from the numerous items that Srebotnjak listed, but also diesel emissions from machinery, trucks and other vehicles being used, etc. The Fracking industry is making it hard for people to get away from the harmful effects that it could pose on one’s health and well being. But along with air pollution can tie in the harmfulness of emissions of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide is a big one from the exhaust emissions of machinery being used, but not only that; many other gases from the chemicals being used and the reactions they have underground harm not only the lungs of the workers drilling but also the ozone layer and the entire planet in general.
But with all of the cons that come with fracking, there are also many cons and good benefits from doing so. The American Citizens use a lot of crude oil 19.69 million barrels a day to be exactly like I had said earlier. Today a gallon of gas averages to be about $2.68, which has considerably gone down since 2012; greatly thanks to fracking (Energy.gov). The prices that fracking has created is insane. Before the fracking revolution that began in 2013, natural gas prices were 47% higher than they were in 2015 (Dews, 2015). Which not only has saved the country lots of money in imports; but the American citizen hundreds, if not thousands of dollars every year.
But not only does cheap gas and oil save the American people money, but it also creates them opportunities to make it. By having an abundance of natural resources, the nation needs people to transport it, refine it, market it, etc. And with gas prices lowering, people are more willing to travel, making the economy boom with growth. But this can be told with numbers. As of 2013 1.5 million jobs had already been created by the entire fracking industry. But these jobs are NOT available only in states where oil and gas deposits are found but in every state. By the year 2035, it is predicted that over 3.5 million jobs will have been created just by the fracking industry. Rapidly helping to lower unemployment rates and poverty (Lydersen, 2014). This should greatly affect the outrageous number of people in America living on welfare without a job.
Not only are we helping the American people and economy, but we’re also helping our large debt deficit too. On average, the U.S. spent roughly 350-450 million dollars in imports (Nunez). But by us being able to drill and frack for our own oil and gas, the price drops drastically to about 250 million dollars now according to the same source (Nunez). Which in turn helps our debt deficit as a country; and also helps build the United States as an independent country.
