Prior to watching Gasland 2 and Truthland, I am familiar with the term “fracking” but never took the time to look into it. After watching these two films, I realized how fracking is a controversial topic in the world of environmentalists. These two very different films explain how fracking is effecting the environment around us. Before explaining further into these films, we need to know what fracking really means. Fracking is “a process by which the rock is split so that natural gas can flow to the surface,” defined by Terry Engelder, a professor of geosciences at Penn State University.
What is fracking? Fracking is the process of drilling into the ground and releasing a high-pressure water mixture into rocks in order to fracture them and release the natural gases inside. The water mixture consists of water, sand and chemicals. Fracking is beneficial because it lowers the prices of oil and gas, reduces America’s dependency on foreign oil, and reduces CO2 contribution.
Scientists have found methane levels in the surrounding underground water sources are seventeen percent higher than more circumstances ("Pros"). Residents in the areas of gas well sites claim, and actually have video evidence, of holding a hand-held lighter to their sink water and being able to ignite it. If that itself isn't frightening enough, well companies can actually hide the chemicals they use in the process of fracking from the public ("New Yorkers"). The companies use up to six-hundred chemicals in the process, that go into the ground and can affect the water the public drinks but now of them have to be disclosed to the public ("Natural"). Also, the act of fracking can release naturally-occurring radioactive chemicals into well-water that, in other circumstances, could never possibly reach the public's
Fracking allows the United States to be less dependent on foreign oils and finding other local sources of energy. Now there are roughly 35,000 natural gas wells in the United States. A local community
To understand it fully, a valid definition of fracking is required to serve as the basis for this paper. Fracking can be defined as the process of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations to allow oil and gases to flow out through the fissures and into the wellbores where they can be easily
Fracking is jeopardizing our Earth and everything in it. As the gas and oil companies are fracking away, there are chemicals
With a boom out of the darkness for oil and gas production with the 1940s technology known as “hydraulic fracturing” or also known as “fracking’ but all this come to “what is fracking?” To answer that basic question: Fracking is the process that involves millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals are being injected into the ground by high amounts of pressure. Fracking is used to dig into deposits and tap into previously unreachable oil and gas reserves. Fracking is widely used in vertical and horizontal drilling in oil reserves. With that question answered let's talk about fracking's impact on everyday lives.
"Fracking refers to the procedure of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting fluid into cracks to force them further open, releasing oil and gas. " These oils and gases are used to generate electrical power that is necessary throughout everyday life. Fracking does provide a more simple and cheaper way to retrieve these natural oils and gases, but it does have a large effect on the health of communities nearby. This is causing debates that question the process of fracking and whether or not it is endangering the surrounding people and the environment. Fracking does provide an economic advantage for companies, but its disadvantages are also extremely important towards the health of others and the environment.
Fracking, a process of injecting a chemical mixture into the ground at a high pressure into subterranean rock to force open existing fissures and extract oil and gas, has been harmful to our air, water, and even our health. The chemical mixture can trigger the existing fault lines in our Earth's crust causing an influx of earthquakes in the United States or wherever fracking is present. Not only are the number of earthquakes increasing, but so are the size of these earthquakes. Most people believe fracking is a good thing, a great means of oil production. However, they do not stop to think about how detrimental it is to our environment.
What the Frack? New innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, more commonly known as “fracking”, have lead to a spike in the use of this cost-saving and efficient technique for acquiring natural gas. But with this new widespread use has come a wave of backlash from many environmental and conservation groups about the potential dangers and drawbacks of fracking. It is estimated that fracking could help provide enough natural gas to power the United States for 110 years.
"All chemicals used in the fracking process have common applications from swimming pool cleaners and laundry detergents to cosmetics, and even ice cream. " Researchers argue that although there has been much concern over polluted drinking water because of the chemical additives used in fracking, the process is safe and public health is not at risk. In fact, the study explains, many of the chemical additives used in the fracking process are regulated by the state and have common household
While yes fracking does bring wealth to former struggling land owners and provides a boost of well-paying jobs to the region, but these jobs are quite unstable. According to www.bloomberg.com fracking wells production decline by 60% to 70% within the first year alone. Some wells do last for decades but others can last only up to a year which provides only a temporary boost to the local economy. Also if any accidents occur they cost tens of thousands of dollars to rectify. According to the website www.environmentamerica.org if fracking were to contaminate the New York City watershed it would cost up to about 6 billion
Hydraulic Fracturing, otherwise known as fracking is the process of injecting large amounts of sand, water, and other chemicals into the shale rocks deep beneath the ground in order to flow natural gas back onto the surface of the well. This process was invented in the early 1900s, and has been controversial ever since. There are two sides to the debate, one being that fracking is known to be horrible for the environment. Fracking has caused families to need to be displaced, and emitted thousands of toxic chemicals into the air causing major public health issues. At the same time, fracking has reduced the reliability on coal, which is known to be horrible for the environment; it has also brought hundreds of thousands of gallons of natural gas
The process of fracking allows humans to extract the colorless, shapeless and odorless gas and oil when it is in its original form, which is later on used for electric power, in industries, in vehicles and in other important worldwide makings. Finally, the significance of fracking in the United States has clearly become leading to macroeconomists to state that the country is changing from a “net importer” to a “net exporter” of oil and gas over the coming years. Table 1: " What Is Fracking and Why Is It Controversial? - BBC News.
People complain about pollution from factories, cars, global warming, and the melting of polar ice caps, yet many people disregard the dangerous that come with fracking. Fracking is the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks, and/or boreholes to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas. Fracking is causing an epidemic economically and environmentally. Fracking is continuously destroying the earth day by day. From the endless fracking today’s economy is depleting.
