BBC Editors. “What Is Fracking and Why Is It Controversial?” BBC News, BBC, 26 Oct. 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-14432401. 

Fracking is one of the most widely used methods of extracting natural gas — a natural gas commonly used for heating and generating electricity. Fracking is the method in which a highly pressurized mixture of water and chemicals is injected into underground rocks to break them apart. The natural gas released from these rocks is collected and redistributed for human use. Though fracking is an effective way to harvest natural gas, it has many environmental concerns. One of the biggest concerns is its ability to contaminate large bodies of water. When the chemicals used in the process of fracking are released into the waterways, they become polluted and serve as major health risks for humans and wildlife. It can also release methane into the atmosphere which is a highly concentrated greenhouse gas. 

While there are major health effects of removing natural gas through this method, I do think that it is the most effective. Though there are many health hazards to fracking, it still remains one of the safest ways to remove natural gas. The best way to prevent the consequences of fracking is to target the source. If we reduce the amount of natural gas we consume, there will be less of a demand to harvest it, therefore we can avoid the amount of fracking that takes place. We can do this through simple lifestyle changes such as taking cooler showers or turning the heat off when we leave our house. Overall, I think fracking should continue however, we need to be considerate about how it affects people and companies should be responsible for paying the external costs. 

Virginia Mercury. (2022, April 21). What new Virginia laws reveal about how the natural gas industry sees its future. Retrieved August 17, 2022 from https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/04/21/what-new-virginia-laws-reveal-about-how-the-natural-gas-industry-sees-its-future/ 

This article is about how despite our countries recent interest in finding renewable energy sources and slowly decreasing the use of gas and oil, the recent war has led many European countries to rely on gas and oil from fracking in the US. This has led to increased production, and ultimately sets back our goal of switching to a renewable energy system. Once the war is over though, and those European countries no longer need to rely on the US, we will focus on creating a 100% renewable energy system. Not only does having a system like this benefit the environment, but it is also cheaper. The fracking industry will not disappear after this change. We still rely heavily on natural gas to heat our homes. For the foreseeable future, fracking is here to stay.

This relates to environmental science because it discusses our countries future in creating a new energy system. It brings up more questions such as how can we completely eliminate the use of fossil fuels. My opinion is that as soon as the war ends we should continue producing natural gas and oil at the same rate so prices drop. Then, once we have made a good plan for how to switch to renewable energy, we can cut back the production of oil and gas and hopefully eventually eliminate fracking as a whole.

The Atlantic. (2022, March 8). America Is the World’s Largest Oil Producer. So Why Is Losing Russia’s Oil Such a Big Deal? Retrieved August 17, 2022 from https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/03/us-oil-natural-gas-price-surge-energy-independence/626979/ 

This article discusses how the way oil production in the US is set up is leading to the recent high oil prices. The article mentions how in other countries that are major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, they have their oil production set up so that in case of emergency they have 6 months worth of oil saved up and use methods that allow them to heavily increase their oil production in a matter of weeks. This is because their government heavily oversees oil production. In the US, however, oil production is dominated by private companies who have recently acted in the interest of their investors rather than that of the government or economy. Fracking companies slowed down production fo let prices rise and rake in more profits, but now that Russia is in a war with Ukraine, oil is in high demand. Unfortunately, these fracking companies cannot suddenly increase their oil production in a few weeks like producers in other countries can. It takes many months for new drills and wells to start producing oil. This low supply has led to an increase in gas and oil prices.

My opinion on this is that this is yet another reason why we should be looking for a more sustainable, reliable, and renewable energy source. Although fracking has been very successful over the past few decades, this does not mean it is reliable. Due to recent events, gas prices have skyrocketed, and our reliance on fracking is at fault. This relates to environmental science because It shows that we are in need of a reliable and renewable energy source. This shows that we need to continue to put effort into finding such a source to avoid situations like this in the future.

Slate. (2022, April 11). The Enduring Myth of America’s “Molecules of Freedom”. Retrieved August 17. 2022 from https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/04/ukraine-war-american-fracking-natural-gas-exports-russia.html 

This article is about how the war in Ukraine has led to demand heavily increasing world wide, as Russia is one of the world’s biggest fuel providers. Many European countries that previously relied on Russian oil are now coming to the US for help. Unfortunately, the US is not producing oil fast enough. Many fracking companies nearly went bankrupt due to low profits, and when the pandemic hit, they were able to lay off workers and cut costs due to the heavily decreased demand for oil. Now, just 2 years after the pandemic hit, demand has skyrocketed and this is causing US gas prices to go up. This has started a debate over whether fracking is really the answer to America’s desire to become truly energy independent. Many people argue against fracking because it is very costly, and is essentially just as harmful to the environment as burning coal.

My opinion is that fracking should continue, and these high prices are just temporary. When the war ends and Russia goes back to supplying other countries with fuel, gas prices will go back down. I believe fracking is a good bridge to finding a renewable energy source, but by no means is it sustainable. This relates to environmental science because it brings up the discussion of the impact of fracking on the environment. It brings up the good point that while fracking has helped our country’s push for energy independence, we need to prioritize finding renewable energy sources, because fracking is not sustainable.

Business Insider. (2022, June 11). A fracking boom made the US the world;s biggest oil producer. Now its end is pushing gas prices much higher. Retrieved August 17,2022 from https://www.businessinsider.com/why-gas-prices-rising-energy-fracking-boom-ending-oil-shortage-2022-6 

Fracking has been very important in the US in the last 10 years, as the industry has grown very much. However, These companies are partially to blame for the recent increase in gas prices. Recent events such as Russia invading Ukraine has led demand on oil to skyrocket. Unfortunately, fracking companies in the US are not producing fast enough to keep up with the demand, therefore increasing prices. This is due to complaints from shareholders of these companies, who were upset that the companies had been focusing more on growth than profits. After a huge oil boom in 2019, the companies decided to not focus as much on growth, and instead put more effort into becoming more profitable, like the shareholders wanted. This worked at first, as the pandemic hit and energy demand decreased dramatically. But now demand has risen and is very high right now, and the companies have not sped up their production, therefore causing gas prices to go up.

My opinion on the information in the article is that companies should focus now on growth and production, as it is desperately needed at this time. This relates to environmental science because it puts pressure on us to find new ways to provide energy. Since oil prices are so high right now, it would be beneficial for both the environment and peoples financial situations to switch to a more environment-friendly source of energy. Driving electric cars is one example of how we could change. Electric care benefit the environment, and owners of electric cars do not need to worry about high gas prices.

The Washington Post. (2022, June 23). Why Fracking Won’t Solve The Global Oil And Gas Squeeze. Retrieved August 11, 2022 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/why-fracking-wont-solve-the-global-oil-and-gas-squeeze/2022/06/22/588dae6a-f275-11ec-ac16-8fbf7194cd78_story.html 

This article is about how despite early promise shown by fracking, it is not a good long term solution. When fracking first became popular, there was a big oil boom where the US has an abundance of oil, and they no longer needed to rely on other countries to provide them with these resources. They had enough energy to support the entire country, and they had enough to export the oil at rapid rates. This led to a monopoly until other countries attempted to lower prices and drive frackers out of business by flooding the market with crude oil. American oil producers changed their approach, so instead of trying to produce so much that they could export it, they focused on producing enough to supply America with enough energy. Unfortunately, this is not sustainable due to the fact that fracking requires an extremely large supply of water, and it does not provide the country with renewable energy, which is what we are trying to achieve

My personal opinion on this information is that fracking seems to be a good system to provide our country with energy at the moment. However, we should still focus on finding ways to switch to a 100% renewable energy system. This relates to environmental science because one of the main reasons fracking is so controversial is due to the fact that it is not renewable, and therefore is not sustainable because our planet will be destroyed if we continue to rely on oil and gas to provide us with energy.

The article talks about the European satellite which saw areas in Russia, USA, and parts of Asia that could help fight climate change due to its emissions of methane. The European satellite saw methane leaks in these 3 areas, and by these finds, we have the ability to reverse these areas that are emitting such methane levels. By reducing what is about 9 million tons of greenhouse gasses each year in these areas, we are able to take a step in the right direction and remove these natural gasses that are contributing to global warming. 

I am happy about the discovery of these high methane emitters as there is now a solid source to the high producers of natural gasses and think that someone must be held responsible and actions must be taken. I am however curious as to what actions can be taken to reverse these methane leaks, because the article mainly talks about how to prevent these methane emitters from happening in the future, but there is not much talk about what can be done to reverse the damages, Overall, I am grateful for these discoveries despite the lack of effort being done to reverse the natural gas damage because at the end of the day, we are able to prevent this from happening in the future, and have the technology to discover other high emitting natural gas sites.

This article focuses on the earthquakes in texas, and how the increase use of oil is driving earthquakes and rumbling home walls. To be technical, fracking i not causing the tremors, but rather the waste in the water wells are causing enough damage that there had to be new rules set to manage the disposed water. The way these earthquakes are occurring is when the water that is being drilled into the ground fills up empty space, but the empty space might happen to be a fault line, and if a fault line is triggered, so is an earthquake.

As someone who lives in california, I am extremely fortunate to not have to experience severe earthquakes due to fracking especially because of how harmful california can be with earthquakes. I also think that the waste water from fracking is already harmful enough, but with recent news about how it causes earthquakes makes alternative energy sources extremely useful. Specifically, I think we need to invest into solar and wind energy as these are renewable energy sources and effectively provide energy without the cause of natural disasters.

The article talks about the increase of price for oil, any why they are going up along with if they will remain at high prices. Specifically; The main reasons for high oil prices are a high demand along with inflation which to our economy, makes gas prices about a dollar higher than last years. If the united states makes a deal to fix a nuclear agreement with Iran, there is hope to lower the cost of oil because the deal with Iran involves an increase production of oil.

As of right now, I am not too phased because aaia cannot drive, and the oil price increase does not affect me greatly, but I fear that the high oil prices can ruin our economy and drive inflation levels even higher if no action is taken. I also believe that this increase of oil prices will become a pressing issue that many more people will begin to fight for, and I don’t think we should focus on methods to increase the production of oil, but rather explore new alternative energy sources that can be as effective, and economically & environmentally friendly.

This study researches how people, specifically the elderly are dangerously affected by living near areas where fracking occurs. Due to the harmful pollution that fracking emmits, people who live near fracking drills have a higher chance of dying early, and elderly people who live near fracking sites have higher chance of death. The article talks about how it was the “first major study into the link between premature death in older people” which is shocking due to the amount of time fracking has been used, and how many lives have been affected without them even knowing

My opinion on the article is that we need to find alternative ways of energy. While this article focuses on how fracking is harmful to those who live near the areas, on a larger scale of when the pollution reaches a threat level of everyone, this can be extremely dangerous to everyone. This article proves that the pollution from fracking is enough to lower lifespans, which alone should be enough to be treated seriously, and actions should be taken to reduce the amount of fracking. Lastly, the harms that fracking causes not only on our environment, but on the people who live near fracking facilities should not longer have to be an question of wether or not fracking is worth the risk because of the clear signs that fracking is harmful to us.