12:27 p.m. | Updated In the final session of an environmental-science communication course that I co-taught at Pace University this spring, Thad Cook, a graduate student, gave a thorough overview of the issues raised by extracting natural gas from shale using hydraulic fracturing, the method now widely called fracking. He mentioned a useful new source of information, FracFocus.org.  I gave it a look and sent out a note about it on Tumblr last night (if you haven’t used it, Tumblr is an efficient tool for swiftly disseminating links, images, ideas and more). But I want to be sure everyone here knows about it, as well. It’s an initial sign that the oil and gas industry is waking up to the need for far more transparency if shale gas is to play a substantial role in America’s energy mix any time soon. (Revisit “Growing Pains in Gas Country” for more.)  The site, launched last month, was developed by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and state groundwater-protection agencies. Using information voluntarily supplied by 24 companies, FracFocus provides a well-by-well searchable database of chemicals used in the drilling process and background on the substances.  Jeff McIntyre-Strasburg of Sustainablog had it right in his post last month in noting the big limitations on this database so far. It only lists wells drilled since January 1, for one thing.  This is an arena where big gaps in information have fueled distrust and fear. The more information the better. Aggressive reporting and communication have helped push the industry and its regulators to clean up a resource push that’s had the feel, until now, of a pioneer-days gold rush. The latest prod comes in the form of a music-video “explainer” on fracking from Studio 20, the journalism innovation laboratory of Jay Rosen and colleagues at New York University:  The video is a fresh take on the enormous body of reporting developed by ProPublica reporters over the last few years on America’s gas rush. Watch it first, then scan the lyrics below:  My Water’s on Fire Tonight (The Fracking Song) Music by David Holmes and Andrew Bean Vocals by David Holmes and Niel Bekker Animation by Adam Sakellarides and Lisa Rucker  Fracking is a form of natural gas drilling An alternative to oil cause the oil kept spilling Bringing jobs to small towns so everybody’s willing People turn on their lights and the drillers make a killing  Water goes into the pipe, the pipe into the ground The pressure creates fissures 7,000 feet down The cracks release the gas that powers your town That well is fracked….. Yeah totally fracked  But there’s more in the water than just H2O Toxic chemicals help to make the fluid flow With names like benzene and formaldehyde You better keep ‘em far away from the water supply  The drillers say the fissures are a mile below The groundwater pumped into American homes But don’t tell it to the residents of Sublette Wy-O That water’s fracked…. We’re talking Benzene…  What the frack is going on with all this fracking going on I think we need some facts to come to light I know we want our energy but nothing ever comes for free I think my water’s on fire tonight  So it all goes back to 2005 Bush said gas drillers didn’t have to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act, before too long It was “frack, baby, frack” until the break of dawn.  With the EPA out it was up to the states But they didn’t have the money to investigate Sick people couldn’t prove fracking was to blame All the while water wells were going up in flames  Cause it’s hard to contain all the methane released It can get into the air, it can get into the streams. It’s a greenhouse gas, worse than CO2 Fracking done wrong could lead to climate change too  Now it’s not that drillers should never be fracking But the current regulation is severely lacking Reduce the toxins, contain the gas and wastewater And the people won’t get sick and the planet won’t get hotter  What the frack is going on with all this fracking going on I think we need some facts to come to light I know we want our energy but nothing ever comes for free I think my water’s on fire tonight  (Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license.)  I hope listeners make it through the final verse and chorus, which make clear that a country — and global civilization — sorely in need of less-polluting energy choices than coal can’t simply cross gas drilling off the list.  This is not a “no fracking” song; it’s a song about taking responsibility for our energy choices, including gas, and making the best choices possible on the path toward an energy menu that works for the long haul.  I give it a thumbs up.  (And it’s way more “21st century” than my energy songs, “Liberated Carbon” and “Black Bird.”)
If you live in shale-gas country, there's a new tool for getting information on materials used in developing nearby wells.