I write about fracking a lot (scroll), and for good reason. Did I mention that the Los Angeles Times reported that in Ohio, geologists have found a connection between fracking and earthquakes? Or that oil drilling and fracking are producing radioactive waste? Yet, we haven’t heard a peep about Big Oil, Gas, and Fracking possibly killing newborns from those very same “pro-lifers” who hypocritically devote themselves to “saving babies.”
And let’s not forget that fracking is linked to methane risks: “When methane concentrations are that high, water can bubble like champagne.” Salud!
Awhile back I wrote Frackers are guzzling water supplies in drought states the way John Boehner guzzles booze. The Los Angeles Times has this to add (emphasis mine):
Gas from shale formations, long inaccessible because of their geology, has been unlocked in recent years by high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which involves underground injection of millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals.The demand for water for fracking has already stoked tensions in the United States as the practice has spread to areas where water resources are limited, such as Texas and Colorado.
Worldwide, 38% of shale resources are located in regions that “are either arid or under high to extremely high levels of water stress,” including portions of China, the Middle East, Mexico and Pakistan, the study says.
I live in California. We’re so dried up and shriveled here, we’re starting to resemble Republican party members. The last thing we need is for what’s left of our water supply to be wasted on deadly efforts to scrounge up more fossil fuels.
I’ll end with this Los Angeles Times letter to the editor, because our voices matter:
The recent decision by the Bureau of Land Management to resume oil and gas leasing in California defies reason. (“Fracking report clears way for California oil, gas leasing to resume,” Aug. 28)
Its report finds no groundwater contamination from fracking — based on no data. Scientists asked for more time to conduct research but were denied. No information was found about toxicity of a third of the chemicals used. Some information that companies self-reported didn’t jibe with information they gave to regulatory agencies.
Beyond that, the decision will only increase the carbon emissions contributing to California’s drought and allow companies to permanently pollute. And what about evidence that fracking may cause earthquakes?
Rather than a justification to resume leasing, the report and decision should be a reason for legislators to look into who is pressuring the BLM to rush leasing through at the expense of California’s people and environment.
Cher Gilmore, Newhall
