Air pollution and water contamination due to the toxic chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing are the greatest concerns within fracking sites, while the need for wastewater disposal and shrinking water supplies are also pressing issues directly related to the procedure.
What are the harmful effects of fracking?
Fracking sites release a toxic stew of air pollution that includes chemicals that can cause severe headaches, asthma symptoms, childhood leukemia, cardiac problems, and birth defects . In addition, many of the 1,000-plus chemicals used in fracking are harmful to human health—some are known to cause cancer.
What are 3 cons of fracking?
- Con 1. The US needs to immediately transition away from all fossil fuels, including natural gas. ...
- Con 2. Fracking pollutes groundwater, increases greenhouse gases, and causes earthquakes. ...
- Con 3. The US should not stake national security and energy independence on a finite, market-dependent resource.
Is fracking a good or bad thing?
Fracking is a hotly debated environmental and political issue. Advocates insist it is a safe and economical source of clean energy ; critics, however, claim fracking can destroy drinking water supplies, pollute the air, contribute to the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, and trigger earthquakes.
What is fracking and why is it bad?
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is revolutionizing oil and gas drilling across the country . However, without rigorous safety regulations, it can poison groundwater, pollute surface water, impair wild landscapes, and threaten wildlife.
Is it safe to live near fracking?
And is it safe to live near fracking sites? A recent study gave some important answers to that last question: No, it’s not safe to live near fracking sites , and adding more fracking wells has a direct negative impact on public health.
What states have banned fracking?
Last month, the interstate Delaware River Basin Commission banned fracking within the watershed of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, adjacent to the fossil fuel-producing Marcellus shale basin. Vermont, Maryland and Washington have also banned fracking, but those states have few, if any, proven reserves.
Why we should stop fracking?
Banning fracking is a key step to protect against the economic losses from climate disruption . We are facing massive economic losses due to climate disruption, driven by fossil-fuel extraction and use. The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change pegged those climate damages at 20% of global GDP.
What are the benefits to fracking?
Fracking has upended the American energy system. It has brought substantial benefits to the nation in terms of lower energy prices, greater energy security, reduced air pollution, and fewer carbon emissions (although its long-run impact on carbon emissions is less clear).
Why is fracking so important?
Fracking is essential for the production of natural gas and oil from shale formations , and with advances in fracking technology, it is becoming easier and more accessible to access natural gas. ... Natural gas has many residential, commercial and industrial uses.
What are 2 pros and 2 cons of fracking?
- Access to more gas and oil reserves. Accessing oil and gas from shale, though still finite, helps mitigate the exhaustion of oil and gas resources from conventional extraction methods. ...
- Self-sufficiency. ...
- Reduced coal production. ...
- Jobs creation. ...
- Energy security. ...
- Reduced water intensity compared to coal.
Is fracking better than coal?
“Natural gas may be a marginally cleaner fossil fuel than coal, but obtaining it through the processing of fracking turns out to be more damaging to the climate than coal ever was. Fracking is a process that splits deposits of natural gas deep underground, using high pressure chemicals.
How does fracking affect us?
Fracking damages the environment , threatens public health, and affects communities in ways that can impose a multitude of costs: Drinking water contamination – Fracking brings with it the potential for spills, blowouts and well failures that contaminate groundwater supplies.
How many deaths has fracking caused?
Fracking Accidents On the Rise. From 2009 to 2012 the fracking industry added 23 percent more workers but job gains have come with a price. In 2013, 138 workers were killed on the job, a two-fold increase since 2009. There have been over 1,000 deaths in the oil and gas industry since 2003.
What would happen if fracking is banned?
Economic and National Security Impacts Under a Hydraulic Fracturing Ban explains why a ban would have far-reaching and severe consequences, including the loss of millions of jobs, price spikes at the gasoline pump and higher electricity costs for all Americans—and the likelihood of increased CO 2 , SO 2 , and NO x emissions ...
What state does the most fracking?
| Shale Region Shale Oil Production States | Eagle Ford Shale 1,144,000 bpd Texas | Bakken Shale 964,000 bpd Mostly North Dakota, though some production comes from Montana |
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