occasional observer

Should the U.S. ban fracking?

A significant political issue that had escaped widespread public attention came to the fore at the recent presidential debate when vice-president Kamala Harris was asked about her changed position with regard to fracking. Did she still want to ban it?

Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing, which is the process of creating fractures in subterranean rocks and rock formations by injecting horizontally specialized fluid into cracks to force them to open further. The larger fissures allow oil and gas to flow more easily out of the formations and into the wellbore, the vertically drilled chamber where the oil or gas is collected before being pumped out for eventual distribution.

Over the past decade fracking has become the dominant method for obtaining oil and gas; currently 79 percent of U.S. natural gas and 65 percent of crude oil is now produced by fracking and those percentages may well increase. Since 2005, more than 100,000 oil and gas wells have been drilled and fracked in the United States, and more than 17.6 million people live within a mile of a fracked oil or gas well.

Economically, fossil fuels have been a success for several years, and now the United States is the world’s largest producer and exporter of both oil and gas.

But there are several problems with fracking oil and gas. Like much of the world, the U.S. faces a growing crisis of diminishing fresh water due to more than a century of continuing overuse by agriculture, industry, and poorly planned urban development. Fracking uses enormous quantities of (mostly potable) water; and over the past decade the average amount of fresh water used in individual fracks has increased 600%.

In addition to drilling for oil and gas, energy companies are also drilling for the water they need for their operations.
Fracking produces liquid waste containing a host of toxic chemicals that are integral to the fracking process. These include kerosene, benzene, toluene, xylene, formaldehyde and others not publicly reported.

Earthquakes are an increasing problem, particularly in Texas and Oklahoma.The causes seem to be partly the fracturing of the subsurface shale but also the effects of the chemicals on the stone.

Methane gas, the main component of natural gas, is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. An enormous quantity of methane escapes into the atmosphere when either oil or gas has being fracked and is harmful to human health (including breathing) as well as a significant factor in climate change.

The major cause of the global warming is the burning of fossil fuels. Last year, the U.S., along with 199 other nations, agreed to phase out fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy over the next few decades. Fracking is a strong incentive for those who want to continue using fossil fuel indefinitely. Proponents are planning to employ CO2 in place of water supposedly to help ease global warming while continuing to frack.

Fracking is currently banned in just 5 states; Vermont, New York, Maryland, Oregon, and Washington.Back in 2019 while she was a presidential candidate, Harris said she would move to ban fracking but has since changed her mind. It would seem clear that whatever else might be responsible for her change of mind, election year politics might play a major part. Pennsylvania ranks second to Texas in past and present fracking activity and is considered one of just a handful of “battleground” states that will decide the coming presidential election. Even were she as committed to banning fracking as she seemed to be a few years ago, most environmentalists would probably overlook this in view of her opponent’s totally negative positions on almost every environmental issue.

But the nation, and the rest of the world will be turning its back on arresting climate change if they do not soon start to phase out fossil fuels. A new Harris/Walz administration might begin by issuing several executive orders to at least clean up and regulate the fracking industry.

Architect and landscape designer Mac Gordon lives in Lakeville.

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