Fracking: What We Need To Know.

Fracking: What We Need To Know.

By Lonny Blair

Hydraulic fracturing has been a highly debated subject in the last few months some think it’s a great way to extract natural gas but others think that the negative impacts outweigh the perks. This is a closer look at why fracking cannot stand with renewable energy nor should it be a liable source of energy extraction. Hydraulic fracturing can mean success for many, but the reality of this situation is that fracking may cause the acceleration of global warming and has been linked to causing earthquakes in Oklahoma. Fracking has also caused an increase in ozone in Wyoming higher than L.A., and a complete depletion of natural drinking for the entire world.

Oklahoma has an average of around 50 earthquakes a year, and in 2011 they have had around 1047. Many scientists were asking why such an increase and the answer they found tied into the 181 hydraulic fracturing wells that have been put into use. On November 5, 2011 Lincoln County Oklahoma encountered a 5.6 earthquake that was felt all the way to Illinois. Natural gas companies are telling the American public that fracking has nothing to do with natural occurring events in the earth’s crust, but pumping 4.5 million gallons into a single well to split the rock beneath the earth’s surface should be more than enough proof that fracking cannot continue, or the earthquakes may continue to get worse. 

Another major problem with fracking is air pollution. In the state of Wyoming, which boast some of the cleanest air in the country, have had startling pollution number increased over the past few years due to fracking. Cheyenne Wyoming has had some of the worst air in the country in the last few months and the state has had to issue warning to elderly people as well as children whom are planning to stay outside for extended periods of time. On some instances daycares facilities in the community have had to cancel outside recess for children.  Early data shows that the ozone levels in Wyoming are at 124 parts per billion, which is two thirds higher than the EPA healthy standard 75 parts per billion, and higher than the city of Los Angles which stood firm last year at around 114 parts per billion. Natural gas companies have flocked to this region of the United States for the natural gas but they must stop and think of the communities they are destroying. 

Perhaps one of the most frightening parts to the fracking puzzle is the water usage. It is said that some wells use only around 600,000 gallons of water; however most of the larger wells may consume around 4.5 million gallons of water in a single well. Once the water is pumped and used for drilling the wells may only retrieve about one third of the water used.  In a society that may find itself at war for water it seems that fracking may need to find another source for drilling fluids. 

My conclusion is a very simple one; we must find different ways of getting our energy. The risk is just not worth the reward, and in order to keep world from falling apart then steps must be made to stop the toxins from entering the ground water or the air that we breathe. We as a nation and as a human race must do something to change, not just fracking but to correct the energy crisis and we must do something fast. Coal plants are still running, fracking is speeding up the global warming process, and it seems that nothing is slowing down. Alternative energy is a very good source of energy and the people of this world should find ways to incorporated that into their everyday lives and continue to help our planet grow.