A controversial engineering issues that has people on both sides fighting for and against it is fracking. Fracking or by its actual name “hydraulic fracturing is a type or drilling that involces safely tapping shale and other tight-rock formations by drilling a mile or more below the surface before gradually turning horizontal and continuing several thousand feet more using high pressured water, sand and chemicals” (BBC UK). The high pressure of the mixture will create small cracks on the surface of the material that they are trying to mine, and the purpose of the sand is to keep the cracks from closing back in so that the pressure of the mixture can bring the material up. The material that is mined through fracking is gas and oil. Fracking on one side of the battle is very important to the US energy because it is allowing us to produce our oil fuel supplies …show more content…
“Because of shale and fracking, the International Energy Agency projects that the U.S. could become the world’s leading oil producer by 2015” (Energy). This is very important to the United States economy because it not only lowers the fuel price that were astronomically high, it will also allow us in the future to sell it to other companies to make a profit since United States is the leading producer of natural gas in the worlds. Fracking is a lengthy process to get approved because it is mining fuel with a mixture that contains chemical, and if something were to fail a lot of land will get polluted and destroyed for any future agriculture. One argument that anti-fracking committees have addressed is that, “Fracking pollutes our air and drinking water, hurts communities, worsens climate change, and is linked to earthquakes. It is unacceptable that the oil and gas industry profits off fracking at our expense. It’s time to say no to fracking, and yes to clean, renewable energy” (Food&Water