hydraulic fracturing Archives – The Green Optimistic

Agricultural Soil Impacted by Fracking Chemical Spills

Courtney Lepping — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 20:19:24 +0000

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) chemicals sometimes end up where they’re not supposed to be: in agricultural soil. Toxic biocides, surfactants, corrosion inhibitors, and slicking agents are some of many types of chemicals used to extract oil and gas from shale and rock. The chemicals aid in extraction, but what happens after a spill? Scientists from Colorado […]

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Fracking Operations Self-Police About as Well as Meth Labs

Benji Jerew — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 17:09:47 +0000

Who watches fracking operations? Not the regulators, apparently! So, apparently there’s this new method to extract natural gas from deep underground, bringing to the surface sweet fossil fuels. Depending on who you listen to, hydraulic fracturing, known as “fracking” for short, is either an extension of mankind’s ability to make money using fossil fuels, or […]

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Fracking, “Done Right,” says UK Business and Energy Minister

Benji Jerew — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 14:45:42 +0000

Three years ago, unusual seismic activity forced fracking operations to cease operation in many parts of the UK, but that ruling is being overturned. Starting today, oil companies can bid on shale gas exploration rights, vis-à-vis, fracking, which is short for hydraulic fracturing. On the one hand, allowing for oil exploration seems to be a […]

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Could Fracking Actually Be Good for Climate Change?

Benji Jerew — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 14:59:56 +0000

I’m having a hard time seeing how this is possible, but could fracking for natural gas actually be good for climate change? According to all research on the subject, climate change is being effected by a drastic increase in carbon dioxide emissions, specifically since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was fired, […]

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Ohio Earthquakes Trigger Cease-Fracking Order

Benji Jerew — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:16:03 +0000

In the last week, eleven earthquakes have been felt in Northeastern Ohio, prompting authorities to order local fracking operations to halt. Fracking (colloquial for hydraulic fracturing, a controversial method to extract natural gas) companies insist they’re not causing any problems. With regards to possible water contamination, for example, companies insist the witches-brew of chemicals they pump […]

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MoveOn Recruits “FrackingFighters” to Combat Climate Change

Leigh Hutchens — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 08:38:08 +0000

The online, left-leaning, progressive organization Move On plans to recruit FrackingFighters to support anti-fracking movements across the US and will provide funding and training to 100 activists to do so. The initiative seeks to slow down the fracking boom that is anticipated to occur across the U.S. in 2014 and beyond. MoveOn has been inspired […]

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Fracking Protesters Could Be Treated as Terrorists

Danny Harper — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 13:39:02 +0000

On November 13th, the COO of Eagleridge Inc. came to a Homeowners Association meeting in Mansfield, Texas with an armed security escort in tow. He confidently took the podium and told the residents in attendance that anyone who protested his company’s gas wells, many of which are less than 200 feet from homes and schools, will end up […]

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Fracking Wastewater Found to be Polluted, Even Radioactive – Duke University

Benji Jerew — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 18:23:51 +0000

The recent boom in fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, to extract natural gas, has led to low natural gas prices, which is a good thing, supposedly, for the economy, but it seems like we’re going to have to pay for those low prices in other ways. Fracking, in principal, is easily explained. A well is drilled […]

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What is Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking), Anyways? [Video]

Benji Jerew — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 17:05:14 +0000

As petroleum reserves extracted by typical methods begin to run dry, many opportunistic petroleum companies have turned to hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas located in more difficult locations. Natural gas hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has become more common in the last decade or so, and a buzzword in political, economic, and environmental conversations, alike. […]

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Oil Companies May Shift from Recycled Water to Saltwater

Janina Lazo-Cruz — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:49:21 +0000

Concerns on too much of water consumption during hydraulic fracturing have been pushing oil companies in recycling water, which in turn costs them much time and expenses. Fortunately, an alternative has been developed to use salt water instead. A drilling project already consumes 6 million gallons of drinkable water that are just disposed into underground […]

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Possible Contamination of Drinking Water from Fracking Operations

Maria Reyes — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 05:58:52 +0000

Can fracking operations contaminate drinking water? Findings of recent geological studies generate many disputes on the safety claims of the hydraulic fracturing industry. Hydraulic fracturing involves directing pressurized fluid onto deep shale of rocks to break them open in order to release the trapped methane gas inside. Geologists guauuuurantee this process will not contaminate the […]

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Could Fracking for Methane Have Caused the Recent Italy Earthquakes?

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:06:04 +0000

You probably heard about Italy’s recent earthquakes and their aftermath. While it’s highly possible that the event had natural causes, there is also the possibility that methane extraction facilities nearby the epicenter have something to do with it. They employ a method called “hydraulic fracking” to crack the rocks beneath the soil by means of […]

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