So Much Confusion

     A recent article that I found on nytimes.com is bringing to light some more common questions about the process of hydraulic fracturing.  The article discusses the definition of fracking and how the common misinterpretations of the meaning allow opposing forces to "talk past one another when discussing the environmental consequences of oil and gas production from shale formations" (Soraghan).  This lack of shared assumptions by opposite sides is making any progress or advancement over the concern of fracking highly difficult.  To many- industry critics included- fracking is a term used to lump together the entire drilling process with the process of shooting highly pressurized water and chemical mixtures into the wells to release the natural gas.  Others however claim that this is not accurate.  They claim that fracking and drilling are two separate processes and should be considered as such.  The "word games" between the industry and critics make it very difficult to address the issue.  With the disagreement of terms, it becomes increasingly hard for those affected by fracking in their area to prove that fracking is the cause of the problem. 
     The article also addresses the little work research that has been done to study the affects of fracking. 




http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/05/13/13greenwire-baffled-about-fracking-youre-not-alone-44383.html?pagewanted=all

Why Fracking?

For my topic for our class blog, I have chosen to focus on fracking.  I selected this topic because it is something that interests me and offers a lot of exploration.  Although environmental science is not one of my passions or primary interests, this specific environmental issue directly affects so many people while still evading much public discussion or concern and is the cause of much controversy.  Thus, I want to investigate this topic further and uncover some of the mystery surrounding fracking.  


In preliminary discussion, I feel an important question to address would be what exactly is fracking? Fracking is a the term used to describe the process of hydraulic fracturing which, according to an article from Businessweek, is "the process that makes it economical for energy companies to tunnel 5,000 feet below ground and remove the gas—but also poses environmental risks."  Essentially, the process involves pumping streams of water thousands of feet underground to releases the natural gasses trapped beneath the Earth's surface.  The problem is that the liquid being shot into the ground is not simply water, but a combination of hundreds of chemicals, some of which are proven harmful to life.  This "water" can then potentially contaminate groundwater which in turn affects the drinking supply in the surrounding areas.  This article describes some of the controversies surrounding fracking because this process is good for the economy but harmful to the environment; it supplied over 44,000 jobs and created more than $389 million in tax revenue in 2009 according to the article, and although natural gas emits less than half of the carbon emissions than oil, the hydraulic fracturing process contaminates countless amounts of water supplies and creates vast amounts of toxic waste.  So, should the primary concern be regulation or politics? 




http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_11/b4219025777026.htm