Friday, September 10, 2010

Fracking

Natural gas plays a huge part in the energy needs picture of the USA. The country has lots of natural gas. In fact in recent times there has been a glut of natural gas.

The problem with the extraction process, fracking, is that it is polluting ground water and in some cases causes air pollution as well. The chemicals are harsh and the companies are not divulging the information on what they are using. How fracking chemicals are adversely affecting people is the real issue.

The EPA appears to be stepping in. The degree of the intervention is not clear. One would suspect that given the interest in using more natural gas in the overall energy picture that environmental protection laws would get overlooked.

CS Monitor: EPA to natural gas companies: Give details on 'fracking' chemicals
Fracking for natural gas involves pumping a slurry of sand, water, and chemicals deep underground at high pressure – cracking open natural-gas-bearing shale deposits and allowing the gas embedded there to emerge.


"The industry likes to say that the chemicals it uses can be found under the kitchen sinks of people’s homes...Well, I don't have sulfuric acid or benzene or glutaraldehyde or methanol under there. We need to know what they're putting into the ground at specific sites."

3 comments:

Glynn Kalara said...

Fracking! Perfect name isn't it? WT Frack are these companies pumping into Mother earth's veins to get at her riches? Miner, drillers everyone in the so called extraction Industries don't seem to care very much who they harm in pursuit of profits, it's one reason why we created the EPA and I find it amazing they weren't in on what these people were doing from day 1. It's a good example of how corrupt our Gov't has become and how captured it's regulatory agencies are after 30 + yrs. of so called deregulation. The Gov't has no problem throwing young people into prison for polluting their minds and bodies with "Pot" or some other illegal substance but you can get away with subsidies from the same Gov't for shooting poisons into the veins of Mother earth. It's sickening and perverted and it's what America has degenerated into these past decades as we've journeyed into Reagan world.

Jim Sande said...

You've got a good analogy there. Especially like the part comparing pot smoking to extracting process.
I believe they think in percentages. If .05% of the population or so gets fucked over by something like this, its okay. There is probably some kind of critical number where the problem has to effect enough people before there is a response. Unless, of course, it is about Muslims.

Glynn Kalara said...

Yep. Check my article today @ my blog. It discusses pricing. I enjoyed kicking Hayek and Mises of the so called Austrian school of so called ,"free market"economic theology. I have lots of pals that still worship @ the altar of these frauds, even after what we witnessed these last few yrs.