How in the hell did hydraulic fracturing ever come to be regarded as sensible? Other than oil and gas companies, who ever said fracking was a good idea?
Consider the process. A mixture of sand, water and god-knows-how-many toxic chemicals is injected under pressure into the bedrock, making the rock fracture and give up any trapped oil/gas. (And if there isn't any oil/gas, oh well, next hole!) Afterward, the injection fluid (known by the industry euphemism "brine") is pumped out and "safely" stored in underground tanks, or pumped miles down into the earth and stored in the "porous rock" at a different site. Forever. (Porous rock?) In the case of Pennsylvania, they send some of their chemical soup over to us here in Ohio. Goody!
Consider the results. Yes, oil and gas are often recovered, which makes money for the oil companies, which is their purpose. But it doesn't do much for you and me. The fracking techniques fuck with Mother Nature in a big way. The bedrock is broken and unstable, and it will not mend. Northeast Ohio recently endured eleven earthquakes. In Ohio. (This area is not exactly "The Ring Of Fire" -- the quakes were fracking-related.) The brine cannot be stored safely. Tanks break and leak. The fluid leaches into the water table, into streams and rivers, and into the supply of public water. Fish, livestock and crops die. Tap water is stinky, undrinkable and, in some cases, flammable.
All of this seems, oh, I don't know -- crazy!! If this is the price we pay to add a relatively few jobs, then the price is too high. If this is what we must do to temporarily save a nickel at the gas pump, then let's stop doing it, and let's stop it now! Let's hit "pause", at least until we know much more about the long-term impact of fracking.
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