by Jack
A local coalition is asking Butte County to impose a moritorium on fracking, a simple process that uses hydraulic pressure to extract natural gas from shale. To date the shale-gas in the United States has been viewed as a viable alternative to burning coal s because of it’s low cost and clean burn. Cheap, green, natural gas is one of the main reasons U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions have fallen 12 percent since 2005. However, a Butte County coalition of anti-frackers hopes to change all that. They want to stop any local attempts at fracking, although as of the date of this article I could find no examples of any fracking being done here.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimated the rate of leakage similar to the University of Texas finding or about 1.5 percent in 2013.
Now this from the Guardian news, UK, “Shale gas is reshaping America’s economy, environment and politics in still surprising ways. It was an unpredicted phenomenon, but shale gas, now more than a decade old, accounts for 40% of the natural gas in the US. The success of shale production, that has reached large areas of America where no gas development previously existed, birthed the largest environmental movement since the anti-nuclear power protests of the Three Mile Island era. The “fracking wars” have come to America and the world, with the recently fired French energy and environment minister saying shale gas supporters wanted her scalp.” Read more – click here.
Check out the author: “John Hanger is a former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. He helped shape the state’s policy in the Marcellus Shale natural gas region. Hanger, a Democrat, is running for governor of Pennsylvania.”
And a fascinating article. Not one single mention of how much water fracking uses. Not one single mention of the fact that water used in fracking is undrinkable; you water your veggies with it, and you’ll harvest carcenogenic veggies … that if frackers were required to clean and reuse fracking water, there would be not a dime’s worth of profit in fracking.
These are not minor matters.
What we’ve got here is another passel of ambitious fellows out to fire up yet another horribly polluting industry, just to put off the day we simply have to stop generating any, at all, greenhouse gasses.
We used to wear hats in the house. We can do it again.
Libby I just did a little follow up and it appears that frackers are using recycled water because it’s cheaper and of course greener. One company I read about recycles over 80% of it’s water. Then I read this WSJ story…”Companies are racing to find ways to recycle the water used in hydraulic fracturing, chasing an emerging market that could be worth billions of dollars.” See, you hit on a real good idea. Just a little late, but if you could figure out a way to filter it so it’s potable, you would be wealthy overnight.
WSJ says… “While the recycled water can’t currently be cleaned up enough for drinking or growing crops, it can be cleaned of chemicals and rock debris and reused to frack additional wells, which could sharply cut the costs that energy companies face securing and disposing of water.”
So, there you go! This industry is looking better every day. Clean burning energy, at a very low cost, and we’ve got more of it than anyone else in the world, lucky us! We got hundreds of years of clean energy right here…wow….this is a great! You should be happy, but I know you’re not.
Hey! If, for the very FIRST time, in the history of capitalist industry, the little beggars consent to run it clean before, rather than after, my government is obliged to climb up their butts, I will be only too pleased.
Now, there is just that little business of keeping their contaminated process water OUT of MY aquifer.
Then, there must be absolutely NO leaking of methane from their drilling operations.
Then … maybe we’ll be getting somewhere.
Libby: “…if frackers were required to clean and reuse fracking water…”
Jack: “…but if you could figure out a way to filter it so it’s potable, you would be wealthy overnight.”
The industry is way ahead of us and already do recycle water for use, as Jack discovered, and cart the water off to be cleaned and filtered for other uses. It is also relevant that the chemicals used are a small fraction of the total volume used in fracking. Once cleaned up the footprint is also much s maller than that for wind or solar.
I have an idea. Get the county to negotiate a deal with the oil companies, like Sarah Palin did in Alaska, so we all get a nice little check in the mail every year!
Water is a major problem, they use thousands of gallons, we have a drough boyz and then ya want to complain about LA? They also pollute it. there are towns where they can light up the water coming out of their faucetts. let alone they inject mercury and other undisclosed chemicals hundreds of mile into the eart, and also it causes earthquakes.
OMG you guys really not a clue?
http://crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/texas-fracking-leaves-bone-dry-farms-d
http://www.kens5.com/news/Hazardous-fracking-solution-shuts-down-Loop-1604-195048451.html
http://www.rtcc.org/2013/07/29/water-contamination-discovered-near-texas-fracking-sites/
http://www.sfweekly.com/2012-09-19/news/fracking-environment-natural-gas-disaster-energy-texas-pennsylvania-new-york-earthquakes-disaster/full/
The current system of fracking is destroying water, I do believe that is the #1 concern in the world…..The oil companies want to tear up America to sell to china and hide the money
We need our water the way it is. But Koch bros are your masters so go ahead destroy the water
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/what-is-fracking-and-why-is-it-so-controversial-1.1505246
learn about fracking and not from the big oil lobbyists…..Want to hols a match to your faucet and see a flame?
Why is the Tea party so gullible you are the Big Oil tea party
Take an online tour of the Keystone pipeline to china and look at the dead lakes and spills everywhere. You do realize China has the need for the oil and it is all sold on the open market it does not stay here right?
Dewey big oil knows more about fracking than extreme leftist green activists and pushers ever will Many of the greenies are making millions selling snake “oil” and freezing granny to death in record cold this winter because taxes and regulation on coal make energy for heat a luxury she can no longer afford.
Powerline
Canada Free Press links to a half dozen stories on the subject.
WUWT
Enviro claptrap doesn’t sell here!
“Dewey big oil knows more about fracking than extreme leftist green activists and pushers ever will.”
Daddy knows best? REALLY, Tina.
LOL You assume I read extreem green blogs! LOL No I havebeen to those towns. I have taken tours of the pipeline, I have seen it with my eyes.
Big Oil and their war machine is no friend to the people, you at least say you are for the Koch brothers fascism though. That is a start.
How do you like the GOP hardfast line to cut vets, Social security, and medicare for more tax cuts to foerign corporations?
LOL Did they tell ya retired vets will see aproc a 1% cut in benefits starting in 2015?
Corporate welfare. You better go to some towns where they frack before you speak. I now know this is not ignorance itis propaganda for the end of democracy tea party though.
Not to mention I have an ancestor who married one of the dudes who had the first fracking patent.
Big Oil is going to tell ya the truth! Al righty they never lie right? Profit greed for off shore accounts is Tea Party mission
tea party wastes tax Dollars millions on fake scandals and propaganda. Anti American
Darrell Issa has at lease now hit the air waves with his treason
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/15282-thousands-of-gallons-of-pollution-recovered-from-oil-and-gas-spill-in-colorado
http://science.time.com/2011/04/20/more-problems-with-fracking-and-some-solutions/
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/us/as-fracking-in-texas-increases-so-do-water-supply-fears.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-fracking-health-20131217,0,5154343.story
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fracking_and_water_pollution
Ya know the Tea Party is the #1 enemy of the USA now.
propaganda and low info voters holding economic progress hostage.
You have just nulled any right to complain about water shortages in CA. Do you have any idea how much water they use and what they put in it?
Circle of Koch propaganda makes no sense.
Have fun attacking your own medicare
Libby: “Daddy knows best? REALLY, Tina.”
This from the woman that wants big government deciding what healthcare we can have, single payer with big government in charge…big daddy knows best?
No dearie, I’m talking about expertise and experience. I’m talking about an industry that has had to meet environmental standards already imposed on it for decades and met the challenge through innovation.
You are talking about a government agency gone nuts with power attempting to impose extreme regulations that will cost consumers more than the changes would be worth just because they can and just because they have decided that carbon, the building block for all of life, is “toxic”.
The American people don’t need the advice of movie stars and political zealots to make sound decisions. They don’t need the opinions of unethical scientists who cheat and lie for the almighty dollar.
They need information from those who know the business and have actually met environmental standards.
And a lot of people are damn tired of manipulators who lie about the dangers of oil production and the effect it has in the atmosphere for political power and control…and because they have invested heavily in green alternatives and stand to make billions of dollars if they can force green energy on an unwitting duped public!
I hate to be the one to shed light for Libby and Dewey, but fracking in CA was recently made possible by our state’s DEMOCRAT controlled legislature and signed by our DEMOCRAT governor Jerry Brown.
Whatever the merits or demerits of fracking, it was not Republicans who brought it to CA. Personally, I think it will create more jobs but does need to be monitored, but, Jack and Tina, please don’t let Libby try to pin this one on us should it start to go wrong.
Good point Steve, the democrats will ne ver get any cover from PS. They own this state and whatever goes wrong is all on them.
Natural gas is a very good energy source. However fracking can cause severe and permanent damage to the water table. If we lose our water, we would loose all agriculture in this area. Therefore we need to be extremely cautious over fracking in this area.
Jim, I think that is a well reasoned opinion and I agree with you.
Jim is well reasoned, and I’m a crackpot! Humph!
Jim I think all Americans share concerns about keeping our environment safe and beautiful.
Have you got evidence, that has not since been proven false, about water contamination that involved real risk, caused actual harm to individuals or death?
There is a lot of disinformation about this industry. There are irresponsible green zealots who are not averse to lying. I have yet to find a situation that didn’t later prove to be greatly exaggerated or completely false.
The area in Wyoming has naturally occurring chemicals.
This site talks about the mercury in the geysers around Yellowstone.
The EPA and the state already have stringent rules that must be met before horizontal drilling and fracking takes place…the reason, no doubt, that Jerry Brown and the Democrats feel very comfortable passing legislation to allow it.
Energy From Shale:
This site gives a good overall picture of the chemicals used, the reasons for their use, and the average percentage of the fluid used that chemicals represent.
See also here for information about steps taken to protect water.
Nothing that we do is completely safe. People in the industry have the same concerns for safety and health that you do. These companies have proven over time that they want to cooperate to make sure the process is as safe as possible. They have worked to innovate and make the process better. The benefits we derive and the good record (that never gets reported) make fracking for natural gas a good bet for the public.
“This site gives a good overall picture of the chemicals used, the reasons for their use, and the average percentage of the fluid used that chemicals represent.”
Does it really? What I hear is that the oil companies are claiming their formulas are propietary information, refusing to disclose to local authorities, thereby preventing any solid determination that it is their toxins showing up in Pennsylvania drinking water.
Crafty, huh?
Libby that doesn’t sound right, better check your facts. The EPA would never allow that to happen. The drillers have to disclose what they are pumping into the ground, there’s just no way around it. I’ve never heard of a time when it was otherwise, and I’ve been around farming for 40 years or more. The EPA and State agencies are very touchy about such things.
Their formulations may be proprietary but the chemical concentrations they use would not escape the EPA or environmental regulations…the percentage of chemicals to water is very low and not harmful.
It is the radical greens who are “crafty”. A more accurate word is dishonest. They use inflammatory language to suggest that oil companies are operating without safety standards or concern for the environment. They purposely misrepresent the facts in order to gin up ar and loathing to further their agenda.
Thanks to the internet and to scientists that are blowing the whistle on these zealots the people are able to discover their deceitful “craft”.