Fracking. Is It A Fracking Good Idea?

Fracking is the process of injecting high pressurized water into shale rock beneath the ground in order to break the rock and release natural gas .  The question, in my opinionm is it feasible to use? Should we be Fracking to release all of the natural gas, or should we just keep our selves to normal and conventional methods?
First we must look at the entire processes from start to finish (to save Citation note space, all this will be cited at the end from Dangers of Fracking.com). First the water is pressurized and pushed into the ground at high rates of speed which break up the shale and release the natural gas. Also let’s look at just the amount of water needed. It takes an estimated 1-8 Million gallons of water to complete one job. That is just part one of the processes. Second process is to actually move the gas to the refiners. According to the website, it takes at least 400 tankers to move the gas to the refiner.  Once the Fracking liquid reaches the site nearly 600 chemicals are pumped into the liquid.  (Please Refer to Graph 1).   After this, the Fracking mixture is sent down more than 10,000 and kept there. However, the chemicals that have been pumped into the mixture begin to leak into the surround ground water. An interesting and most likely “no-duh” portion is that near the drilling site usually face much more water contamination and over 1000 cases of sensory, respiratory, and neurological damage.
After the water sits, and sits, and sits, the only thing that is retracted is 30-50%! Everything else is left in the tables and can’t even degrade down.  After this processes The fluid is to evaporate, and according to dangers of Fracking, harmful volatile organic compounds are then released into the air and create many things, among them ground level ozone.  Ending the article we are left with this: 300,000 Barrels of natural gas are created each day. But once we factor in all of the externalities, is this a viable and safe option?

Graph 1

As I discussed with you before Sustainable Development on Wednesday, I believed that Fracking was a viable option. However after doing research on it, I question it. I’m not sure if it’s the safest route possible. It seems like, from both of the articles I’ve been reading it seems the negatives and externalities seem t outweigh the good (which is odd because I’m more of a non-environmentalist).  Perhaps I need to look at the ethics of all of this first. Sure, lowering Gas Prices by producing our own at home is a great thing. I really am for such matters (3.59-4.00 Dollars is JUST WAY TO MUCH FOR GAS!). However, should we Frack and get that lower gas money with the cost of methane leaking into peoples basements? What about Fracking Fluid being leeched into the water-tables and ground? Further according to this video:

     (At 1:08) Homes in areas with Fracking have been depreciated and their value next to zero because of it. Unknowing home buyers may decide to buy the “land mine” and uncover the fact that the previous owners got all the money from Fracking, these new homeowners are just stuck with the side effects. (At 1:46) some side effects on Cater Road were open sores on the people’s legs. Now that just sounds dangerous to me.  (Starting at 2:20) The company whom bought the land would bring in water for the people because of how polluted their well water was after the Fracking began. Polluted water? Open sores? Sounds like some kind of plague.  Even the water looks bad. It’s a brownish color, stained with Chemicals from the Fracking issues. This video (I am so sorry about the quality) demonstrates my exact fear of Fracking:

     Flammable water? You’re kidding right? Flammable Water that can explode the house? You know as much as I am not an environmentalist, I am more of a humanist. People can’t live like that! It seems so… inhumane.

     In conclusion: No Mr. Oil Company, you cannot buy my land (well maybe for the right price) because this whole Fracking thing seems like a bad Fracking idea. (Okay I’ll stop with the puns.) The humanity of it and how it’s making people live FAR outweigh the positives in my opinion. But, let me post phrase all of this: People may do, whatever they want to do. If they want to sell their land for oil companies to buy up and begin Fracking, please, do so! It’s your land! However, don’t go selling it to someone who has no idea what their getting into. I just don't think we know enough about Fracking to make a decision either way, and I know we sure don't know enough to do wide spread Fracking either. Perhaps we should limit it to small scale testing until we are able to figure out what exactly Fracking will do to people in the long run. It's like Nuclear testing, back in the 50's everyone thought it was a big boom and a bright light. Then most of the onlookers from the Nevada Tests Sites got Acute Radiation Sickness, diseases and died. Who knows what Fracking will do in the long term. We should just not gamble with human lives.

To Sum This Whole Post Up:

Notes:

The Dangers Of Fracking: dangersoffracking.com

Youtube.com

Meme Generator:  http://memegenerator.net/Bad-Time-Ski-Instructor-1

Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/there-are-many-scary-chemicals-in-fracking-fluid-at-this-pennsylvania-site-2012-5

Food and Water Watch: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/fracking/

The Last Cherry Pepsi in the Fridge

To being, let me explain something, my family keeps our 24 packs of Pepsi and such in my mom's van. Not sure why, but it's always been like that. However, my dad more often than not, will bring in a Cherry Pepsi (His favorite) and put it in the fridge to keep it cold. I too love Cherry Pepsi and once again, more often than not, I steal the last Cherry Pepsi from the fridge; and I never seem to want to replace it.
     The question, boils down to in my opinion, that I am just way to lazy to go out to the car to get a Pepsi in the first place. Further, why on Earth would I steal the Pepsi then replace it by going all the way out into the car? At that point I might as well just get off my butt and walk to the garage. It's the convenience factor. Why walk the extra 100 feet when what I want is literally in the next room, already cold and ready to pop open to drink? However, the problem is cyclical in nature. The Pepsi is put into the Fridge, the Pepsi is then taken back out of the fridge, and the process repeats itself. The problem is self evident, and both my father and I loose at some point in the process.

The Cycle of the Pepsi Dilemma

(1).  Father Puts Pepsi in Fridge: He had to walk all the way to the garage to get it.

(2.)  I take the Pepsi out of the Fridge: I capitalize on his work, and end up using the  product that my father worked to obtain.

(3.)  No more Pepsi in the Fridge: If either my Father or I wish to have another Pepsi we must go all the way back into the garage. Thus, I loose I am too lazy to go to the garage. My father looses by having to go to the garage to get another Pepsi

(4.)  Father puts another Pepsi in the Fridge: I forced my dad to go out of the way to get another Pepsi, even though he already had one.

(5.)  I take the Pepsi out of the Fridge: The cycle continues on.

     Now, in abstract thought the Pepsi represents a the good, with my Father and I as the actors. The Fridge is a common pool resource. The Pepsi, in nature, is subtractable ergo If I drink it, my dad cannot. If my Dad drinks it I can not (Of course it can be replenished  which begs the question of controlled common resource pools) but in essence, its original status as an ice cold pop, just begging to be drank, can not be achieved. Once again, in abstract thought assume the restocking of the Pepsi (Maybe a day or so) is equivalent to fishing population rebounding after 10-30 years. Looking at it this way, I may have prevented Population X from being able to consume the Pepsi (Fish) and cause them to die out. Now, in reality this isn't so, but I think this very well exemplifies the problems and the tragedy of common pooled resources.
   

TEST

This is a test post. A post that is to be tested. A tested entry if you will.