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The Environmental and Political Effects of Fracking

CONTROVERSY:. The Environmental and Political Effects of Fracking. AUDREY M. SAXTON, PP, PLS. BIO105IN / CRN23361 Instructor: Amber Carpe PhD. The Controversy. Do the economic benefits of fracking outweigh the risks to the environment?. Th e Players. Important Facts & Background.

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The Environmental and Political Effects of Fracking

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  1. CONTROVERSY: The Environmental and Political Effects of Fracking AUDREY M. SAXTON, PP, PLS BIO105IN / CRN23361 Instructor: Amber Carpe PhD

  2. The Controversy Do the economic benefits of fracking outweigh the risks to the environment?

  3. The Players

  4. Important Facts & Background “Fracking” (hydraulic fracturing) • Water, chemical and sand pumped deep underground • Rock fractures to release oil and natural gas Domestic oil/gas reduces US importation of foreign oil • 2004: 60% of consumption from foreign sources • 2014: 38% of consumption from foreign sources • U.S. projected to surpass Saudi Arabia as largest world producer EPA responsible for US regulation, safeguard of health • Nearly all US greenhouse gas emissions from oil, natural gas & coal

  5. PROPONENTS OF FRACKING • Good for the economy • Creates jobs/increases revenues • Good for the environment • Opponents OF FRACKING • No long-term benefit • Jobs short-term and not local • Natural gas as “bridge fuel” false promise • Pollution & diminished water supplies threaten humans, wildlife and plants

  6. PROPONENTS FOR FRACKING • Fracking is good for the economy • Reduces reliance on foreign oil • Economic benefit from exports • Adds to world’s oil/gas supply • US will soon have enough surplus to begin export to Asia • More supply means lower prices • Oil/gas on federal lands alone can power 65 million cars for 60 years and heat 60 million homes for 160 years • If fracking is eliminated, US will lose 700,000 barrels of oil/gas per day, thus increasing oil costs

  7. PROPONENTS FOR FRACKING • Fracking creates jobs and increases government revenues • 2012: 2.1 million jobs supported by fracking industry2025 (projection): 3.9 million jobs supported by fracking • President Obama 2012 State of the Union:“600,000 jobs produced by fracking”– Evidence: PA & OH • $30B/yr or $84M/day taxes paid to US government • Stop fracking: 48,000 jobs lost in first year

  8. PROPONENTS FOR FRACKING • Natural gas is good for the environment • Cleaner burning than oil/coal • Gateway to renewable energy • Less greenhouse gasses • Electricity: Replace coal with gas = 45% less greenhouse gas emissions • Eliminate coal-fired electricity generating plants:Thousands less annual deaths/illnesses from pollutants • Gas will displace coal as dominant source of energy by 2030 • China (fastest growing coal consumer/polluter) will consume more gas than European Union by 2030

  9. OPPONENTS AGAINST FRACKING • No long-term benefit from fracking • Drilling booms are short-lived (one year to set up wells) • Short-term benefits versus long-term costs • Spike in tax revenue income is limited • Long-term costs to infrastructure post-drilling:Repair of damage to roads from overweight vehicles • Elevated risk of fatal traffic accidents

  10. OPPONENTS AGAINST FRACKING • JOBS SHORT-TERM AND NOT LOCAL TO DRILLING LOCATIONS • Drillers/employees brought from out-of-town • Job creation in only first year of “pre-production” • 98% of employment for life of well in first year only • Boom and bust: Jobs move from town-to-town / no roots

  11. OPPONENTS AGAINST FRACKING • Natural gas as a “bridge fuel” is a false promise • Increase in demand vs. rate of production insufficient to meet needs of consumption • 3.5M trucks/busses need 2.7T cu. ft. gas • Gas reserves stagnating and projecting to decline • Drilling sites measure 9% of total leaked gasses (methane) • 1/3 of this rate is worse than current coal-burning emissions

  12. OPPONENTS AGAINST FRACKING • Pollution AND DIMINISHED WATER SUPPLIES threatening human health, wild- and plant-life • Methane migrations from fracking found in groundwater • Pennsylvania: Fracking wastewater stored above ground • Radioactive properties in water • UT & CO: Native indigent flora and fauna endangered

  13. OPINION I believe that the purported economic benefits of fracking are not enough sufficient enough to outweigh the risks to the environment RATIONALE

  14. OPINION RATIONALE

  15. OPINION Renewable energies should be focus:- cost of developing sources getting cheaper- long-term effects of oil production too great- sustainability of renewable indefinite Tainted end does not justify the means:- profits for private companies not people- clean-burning fuel versus methane from drilling- polluting water from drilling and leakage- continued reliance on fossil fuels- loss of life and damaged ecologies RATIONALE

  16. Literature Cited • American Petroleum Institute (“API 1”) (2014). Energy Answers. Retrieved from http://www.api.org/policy-and-issues/policy-items/taxes/energy-answers. • American Petroleum Institute (“API 2”) (2014, Apr.). Hydraulic Fracturing: Unlocking America’s Natural Gas Resources. Retrieved from http://www.api.org/policy-and-issues/policy-items/hf/hydraulic-fracturing-primer. • Brown, V. J. (2014). Radionuclides in Fracking Wastewater. Environmental Health Perspectives, 122(2), A50-A55. doi:10.1289/ehp.122-A50. • Cockerham, S. (2014, May 1). Geophysicist link fracking boom to increase in earthquakes. Retrieved from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/05/01/226256/geophysicists-link-fracking-boom.html. • Collins, Jim (2011, Nov. 8). Testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Retrieved from http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/ files/serve?File_id=63521aa2-b397-48a2-91b1-34dda1461b4d. • Crawford, Mark (2013). Fracturing Rocks to Unlock New Oil. Mechanical Engineering, 135(12), 24-29. • Endangered Species Coalition (“ESC”) (N.d.). Fueling Extinction: How Dirty Energy Drives Wildlife to the Brink. Retrieved from http://fuelingextinction.org/. • Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA 1”) (2013). GHGRP 2012: Reported Data. Retrieved from http://epa.gov/ghgreporting/ghgdata/reported/index.html. • Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA 2”) (N.d.). Natural Gas Extraction - Hydraulic Fracturing. Retrieved from http://www2.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing.

  17. Literature Cited • Food & Water Watch (“F&W 1”) (2012, March). False Promises and Hidden Costs: The Illusion of Economic Benefits from Fracking. Retrieved from http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/factsheet/false-promises-and-hidden-costs-the-illusion-of-economic-benefits-from-fracking/. • Food & Water Watch (“F&W 2”) (2011, June). The Case for a Ban on Gas Fracking. Retrieved from http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/tools-and-resources/the-case-for-a-ban-on-gas-fracking/. • Handley, Meg (2013, Apr. 29). EPA Report Gives Pro-Fracking Camp a Win. USNews.com. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/04/29/epa-report-gives-pro-fracking-camp-a-win. • Heinberg, Richard (2013, Oct. 23). Snake Oil. Resilience.org. Retrieved from http://www.resilience.org/print/2013-10-23/snake-oil-chapter-5-the-economics-of-fracking-who-benefits. • King, George E. (2012). Hydraulic Fracturing 101. Retrieved from http://www.kgs.ku.edu/PRS/Fracturing/Frac_Paper_SPE_152596.pdf. • Neuman, S. (2014, May 5). USGS: Okla. At Increased Risk Of 'Damaging Quake'. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/05/309888859/usgs-okla-fracking-has-increased-chance-of-damaging-quake?sc=17&f=1001&utm_source=iosnewsapp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=app. • Pierce, Jr., Richard J. (2013). Natural Gas Fracking Addresses All of Our Major Problems. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/faculty_publications/176/.

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