The Pros And Cons Of Fracking

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Hydraulic fracturing is a fairly new method used to extract resources that can be used for energy. “Hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, injects a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals under high pressure into dense rock formations- shale, tight sandstone or coal beds- to crack the rock and release natural gas”(Hydraulic Fracturing Should Be Banned). The area in which hydraulic fracturing takes place is called a play. Hydraulic fracturing is a highly controversial subject with many points arguing both for, and against, it. Currently, fracking is legal in the United States and Canada; however, many countries have banned it. There are also many organizations and individuals in America that are trying to get it banned here as well. Some…show more content…
The way that fracturing is done causes methane emissions to rise, as well as an increase of volatile compounds and hazardous air pollutants to change the air quality(Natural Gas Extraction). While hydraulic fracturing does lead to a rise in the economic systems of the rural areas that it happens in, this leads to many negative impacts on the area as well. a few of the negative impacts from the rise of the rural economy are the heavy useage of trucks along with real property value decrease. “Rural communities face an onslaught of heavy truck traffic- often laden with dangerous chemicals used in drilling- and declining property values”(Hydraulic Fracturing Should Be Banned). These trucks tear up the roads even though they are required to stay under a certain speed which leads to traffic…show more content…
A couple of these chemicals are benzene and 2-butoxyethanol which are known to cause cancer(Lustgarten and Kusnetz). The actual process of fracking does not conserve water, either. Millions of gallons are used in a single hydraulic fracturing well and almost none of the returning water is reused(Introduction to Fracking). This causes many people to want hydraulic fracturing to be banned because they believe that it is impossible to treat the water and that the process is bad if it uses too much

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