Fracking hell

“Ignoring the climate disruption, sacrificing public health and the land, while destroying the American economy is criminal.”

There was a time when people were highly concerned with the prospect of running out of oil. Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil, a 2004 book by David Goodstein, describes peak oil and the inevitable dire future. “Civilization as we know it will come to an end sometime in this century unless we can find a way to live without fossil fuels,” Goodstein wrote. A book by Tom Mast, Over a Barrel, a Simple Guide to the Oil Shortage, says “there is a reason we find ourselves approaching a time without alternatives: a widespread ignorance of energy issues exists leading to confusion and apathy.”

The oil shortage never happened. Instead, we got a climate emergency, the result of our extractive economy, and widespread ignorance of biology and ecology.

The Sun is the primary source of energy for the earth’s climate system. Solar energy is everywhere, abundant, clean, and free. Microgrids with photovoltaics and power storage can provide all the energy we need. Harnessing sunlight was once just a dream. “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait ‘till oil and coal run out before we tackle that,” Thomas A. Edison said in 1931.

U.S. fracking ban

Mining, drilling, and fracking are extractive bulk destructive technologies. In the context of the climate disruption increasing extreme weather events, caused by man-made massive burning of fossil fuels, fracking must stop. We are running out of time to heal the planet.

U.S. Senator John Boozman’s 2014 post Setting the record straight: Hydraulic Fracturing and America’s Energy Revolution, says “A strategy for the future should embrace renewable forms of energy, but also the safe usage of the vast amount of traditional fuels with which we have been blessed. If it’s American, we need to be using it safely and responsibly. No single source alone is the answer, but one of the most promising sources is natural gas and oil produced by hydraulic fracturing… fracking has been put to use in recent years, including in a large geologic formation known as the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas. Natural gas extracted from shale rock provides a clean source of electricity.”

Emily Lane, a brilliant environmental justice champion, an expert on the Arkansas shale nightmare, provided references on what really happened.

Fracking 101

Organic decomposition of plankton, plants, and other life forms created oil and gas trapped in the rocks. The shale must be cracked to free the fuels. Frackers drill horizontal holes using explosives, millions of gallons of fresh water, sand, and a toxic soup of chemicals at great pressure.

Fracking the climate

Natural gas is mostly methane, a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Methane remains in the atmosphere for decades and drives sea-level rise for centuries. Flaring and leaks from fracking releases massive methane emissions.

Fracking the people

The Fayetteville play covers many counties. Land agents invaded communities and offered deals landowners couldn’t refuse. Living near a fracking well is hell. “The natural gas industry claims it provides cheap energy, but we are paying the price with the endangerment of public health. Workers, animals, and people living near drilling, fracking, and other production activities and sites are exposed to harmful pollutants, including diesel exhaust from trucks and construction equipment, airborne toxic chemicals, and surface water and groundwater contaminants.” Coming Clean and Global Community Monitor, October 2014.

Fracking the economy

The Fayetteville shale went bust and left $2.3 billion in debt. Here are some related reports.

“Since 2007 energy companies have spent $280 billion more than they generated from operations on shale investments,” Wall Street Tells Frackers to Stop Counting Barrels, Start Making Profits, December 2017

“As a whole, the American fracking experiment has been a financial disaster for many of its investors, who have been plagued by the industry’s heavy borrowing, low returns, and bankruptcies,” The Secret of the Great American Fracking Bubble, April 2018

“Southwestern to sell Fayetteville shale unit,” September 2018