We are told the world is in an energy crisis, and the United States holds a commanding lead in the consumption of crude oil, the main source of today’s energy.
However, within recent years, it has become evident that the United States also holds an incredible amount of natural gas in our shale rock formations occupying more than 30 states.
Natural gas is cheaper, it is the cleanest of all fossil fuels as it gives off 30 percent lower carbon emissions than oil and coal, it can be used to fuel vehicles and it’s already widely used in homes.
Atop all the pros, there is said to be twice as many natural gas reserves in the United States as there is crude oil in Saudi Arabia. This is a grand opportunity to greatly relieve our dependence on foreign oil.
Solution to our energy crisis, right? Apparently not.
The problem with the production of natural gas is the process to obtain it, called fracking.
Fracking, in short, uses explosives and proppants, or fracking fluid to crack and keep open the shale formation in order to enable the flow of natural gas through the drilling rig casing into production piping on the surface.
The problem with fracking is the toxic chemicals that compose proppants. The chemicals are supposedly seeping into underground freshwater supplies.
It is no secret that drinking proppants would be unwise. But there are tremendous holes in this allegation.
The deepest freshwater aquifers reach only about 1,200 feet, while shale fracking occurs somewhere between 7,000 and 12,000 feet — at least a mile below aquifers.
In addition, proppants are typically composed of 99 percent water and sand. A miniscule amount of chemicals are employed in the fluids, which are more like mud — hence another name, liquid mud.
The grassroots movements against fracking are largely fueled by liberal passion. Historically, liberalism has been the force driving the dire need of the lower class to progress, rather than keeping the status quo — a conservative trait.
This is not a ploy to distinguish which political party supports the exploration of natural gas — both presidential candidates acknowledge its importance. It’s a matter of who will be more proactive.
But energy companies — the “bad guys,” often called conservatives — are global leaders in technological advancement, possibly second only to military industries.
These companies create more economic activity than any other industry, and arguably put more people to work than any other industry. During the recession, shale drilling created more than 57,000 jobs in Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale.
These companies shell out however much money it takes to whomever they must convince to get to these natural resources. They create unimaginable economic progressions in once downtrodden, impoverished towns.
This is progression. This is how you fix a down economy.
I would go so far as to say that every family in Louisiana has a member, who has been employed by the energy industry in some way. To comprehend all of the components and subcomponents that go into the production of hydrocarbons is impossible.
There are grocery stores that owe their great success to the drilling industry in Louisiana.
Is it shocking? Investigations in areas where fracking has supposedly made water sources flammable — causing residents to file suit — have revealed many of these claims to be fraudulent, though these grassrooters probably got settlement checks from the “bad guys,” regardless.
It would be foolish to claim that drilling and fracking are foolproof processes that will never see error. Wherever human beings are involved, there will be error.
But in this case, the amount of successful drills is hardly akin to the amount of unsuccessful ones, and even less comparable to the catastrophic incidents.
Blowouts like the Deepwater Horizon Spill do not happen in onshore drilling. The mere fact that fracking companies are not drilling miles into an ocean floor miles under water allows companies much more control over the situation.
Movements against forces like the energy industry in an energy crisis are ill-motivated, uneducated and can even be selfish.
These are the most in-opportunistic causes that contradict the endless cry of the poor man who just can’t seem to get a break.
