The bad thing is that all of these researches and analyses haven't necessarily attracted the attention of any of the media, and neither of the political circles making the decisions, since they apparently continue to be utterly mesmerized by the PR rhetoric of the powerful energy lobby.
I'm not convinced that's true. If you're not paying attention to the topic, you probably wouldn't realize how broad the fracking and shale gas reserves have become. Along with the Bakken field in the Dakotas (single-handedly fueling the economy in North Dakota in particular), another field has been located in Texas. While we rightfully never hear about peak oil (something I was talking about as a myth years ago, and the "Jeff's Predictions" lobby has forgotten), we don't really hear much about how significant this finding is overall. Peak oil will happen eventually - fracking has ensured that it will not happen in the lifetimes of anyone able to read this.
Why haven't these analysises(?) hit the media, though? Mostly because they're not especially compelling viewpoints in the face of the weight of the evidence. I could link to countless government (federal and state) studies that show the safety of fracking, plenty of private studies, and when useful idiot cranks like Josh Fox get the spotlight, the most prominent anti-fracking folks do not come across as looking especially smart.
Fracking exists in part because of attempts to keep the expansion of drilling for conventional means at bay. In a way, the environmentalists did it to themselves by blocking offshore drilling, blocking ANWR, doing everything in their power to keep new refineries from being built, trying to tax oil companies into oblivion, and so on. Instead, we're seeing an opportunity to lower fuel costs, expand a cleaner fuel in natural gas (as opposed to traditional oil), and we should embrace, rather than wring our hands, over the development.
no subject
I'm not convinced that's true. If you're not paying attention to the topic, you probably wouldn't realize how broad the fracking and shale gas reserves have become. Along with the Bakken field in the Dakotas (single-handedly fueling the economy in North Dakota in particular), another field has been located in Texas. While we rightfully never hear about peak oil (something I was talking about as a myth years ago, and the "Jeff's Predictions" lobby has forgotten), we don't really hear much about how significant this finding is overall. Peak oil will happen eventually - fracking has ensured that it will not happen in the lifetimes of anyone able to read this.
Why haven't these analysises(?) hit the media, though? Mostly because they're not especially compelling viewpoints in the face of the weight of the evidence. I could link to countless government (federal and state) studies that show the safety of fracking, plenty of private studies, and when useful idiot cranks like Josh Fox get the spotlight, the most prominent anti-fracking folks do not come across as looking especially smart.
Fracking exists in part because of attempts to keep the expansion of drilling for conventional means at bay. In a way, the environmentalists did it to themselves by blocking offshore drilling, blocking ANWR, doing everything in their power to keep new refineries from being built, trying to tax oil companies into oblivion, and so on. Instead, we're seeing an opportunity to lower fuel costs, expand a cleaner fuel in natural gas (as opposed to traditional oil), and we should embrace, rather than wring our hands, over the development.