The United States is clearly in the lead in terms of revolutionary drilling methods. There is now a trend of American drilling companies expanding to global energy markets. It seems that the rest of the world will soon catch up with the U.S., as more and more nations seek to copy American success in the natural gas and oil development. Poland is taking the lead in Europe, producing mass amounts of shale gas through the process of hydraulic fracturing. The largest producer of natural gas in South America is Argentina and they plan on adopting American methods of fracking, “the use of water, sand and chemicals to bread underground shale formations and release fuel.”
This is very related to environmental science because many countries are processing mass amounts of fossil fuels, the only difference is that the United States has pioneered the method of hydraulic fracturing by implementing horizontal drilling and various other advancements. While this process still takes a toll on the environment, it has caused several economic revivals in areas around the U.S. Even Saudi Arabia is going to reexamine their methods and implement American oil production practices. Even when done successfully, hydraulic fracturing poses several threats to the surrounding areas. There must be more policies against fracking and we must ban it in specific areas.
