Because one of my main concerns is the damage the drilling method of fracking does, I decided to do some research on the process and write about it today. There are still so many unanswered questions about this method, I still have to wonder, how long will the cost of fracking continue to be offset by the price of oil? Are the benefits worth the risks and damage it causes? What are the long-term effects of fracking on the drinking water?
An oil well near Ross, ND Aug 23, 2011 Karen Bleier
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According to an article from the Natural Resources Defense Council “nearly all natural gas extraction today involves a technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in which dangerous chemicals are mixed with large quantities of water and sand and injected into wells at extremely high pressure.” This process contaminates drinking water and is “suspect in polluted drinking water” in many states, including Colorado North Dakota Texas
USA Today reports that there are two things that “hold the potential to make the boom go bust almost immediately.
The first, oil prices. Right now, oil needs to be selling at $60 a barrel or more to make the drilling process profitable in the huge rock formation called the Bakken. No problem there. It's selling at around $100 a barrel with no price collapse in sight.
The second, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a bit more complicated. There is a huge operating cost to drill down two miles and then two more miles laterally. In addition to the trucking, employment and infrastructure costs, the process of fracking is both costly and has become environmentally controversial. If there were to be a nationwide moratorium on fracking — which has been discussed — the job and oil boom in North Dakota
How dramatically will oil prices drop if the amount of fracking is decreased, or stopped for that matter? What are the long term environmental and health effects, from fracking? Are there any immediate benefits from fracking? (Besides for the oil companies).
ReplyDeleteThe only immediate benefits I see, is the increase in jobs for those around the fracking sites. However my concern lies in what the pontetial environmental and health concerns will be in the long run, like yourself. I also wonder just how long fracking will be able to be sustained, which will effectively determine how long the oil boom lasts. I'm very interested to see what more you find out about this controversial issue and the direction it will soon head in.
These are both credible sources, although the first source NRDC is probably "biased" towards environmental issues, as it is an advocacy group. This doesn't make it a "bad" source, but simply a source that you want to contextualize in terms of its perspective or agenda.
ReplyDeleteWhat new questions and concerns do these sources raise for you? To ensure you are achieving the exploratory purpose, narrate your thinking process, including your new questions, as you discuss each source.