The Scottish parliament has voted in favour of a ban on fracking. It’s not binding, but it’s a step further in the direction of keeping fossil fuels in the ground and implementing a green energy strategy.
The argument centres around climate change fear mongering with more platitudes than facts and the usual claim that the science is settled. It’s not. There’s ongoing debate between scientists about how much impact humans actually have on the environment.
What greenies fail to realize is that studies have been done and the results show that the benefits of fracking outweigh the risks. There’s a common misconception that fracking is a new technology. It’s not, having been used safely and effectively for decades. The newer technology is horizontal drilling in which more fractures are induced along the wellbore but the same general processes have been used for decades.
There’s a call for public consultation and more research before another well is drilled. The politicians don’t directly state the feared risks but it’s usually a concern over the effects on groundwater and earthquakes. But this research has already been done. In fact, the United States Environmental Protection Agency recently released a report on the effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water stating “We did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States.”
The United States Geological Survey has also done extensive studies on fracking and earthquakes finding that human induced earthquakes aren’t caused by the fracking procedure itself but by the disposal of waste water which creates pressure under the surface, causing fractures, which in turn cause slight tremors. The majority of these events measure at magnitudes between 2 and 3 – so, they’re not major and are rarely even felt.
The argument to ban fracking and fossil fuels isn’t a logical one based on available research. Green energy sources are unreliable and require fossil fuels as a back-up. Green advocates would like us to believe that the science is settled and that green energy is viable but we need only look at Germany to see their coal consumption has increased and so have green house gas emissions as a result.