What happens when natural gas drilling moves into an urban area. How americas shale gas boom is threatening our families, pets and food, examines whats happening to humans, pets and farm animals and the environment, primarily in pennsylvania. However, the book is organized around the firsthand experiences of the animals and people behind seven of these case studies. However, it is by showing the pervasiveness of frackings harmful effects on the lives of the householders that bamberger and oswald best convey its true costs. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The media and public attention often focus on the immediate impacts of dirty drilling. The real cost of fracking ebook by michelle bamberger. Fracking has spread across the country with 7,000 wells drilled or permitted in more than 20 states since 2005. New exploration and production may decrease, and some higher cost wells have.
This is the story of the unconventional development of shale oil and gas deposits across the nation. In the real world of fracking, serious environmental accidents can and do occur quite frequently. The shale gas rush has spawned enough compelling stories about companies and individuals to. In 24 cases they found evidence of animals affected by drilling and fracking operations. It cracks open the reality of fracking and seats us across the kitchen table from real people who have been poisonedand who, despite being american citizens and taxpayers, cant do a thing about it. For ray kemble, a notable antifracking activist whose water began running green after the wells popped up, the benefits are nowhere to be seen. The cost of fracking and frac sand mining environment. The real cost of fracking by michelle bamberger, robert. Again, the states of md, vt, ny and many other countries have voted to ban the process for good.
Supporters claim fracking will herald an age of cheaper gas in the us, shale gas accounts for a quarter of the countrys gas industry and fracking has helped cut. The science behind the controversy is an important book that should be read by anyone concerned or interested in shale gas or the issues surrounding fracking. These books provide a range of opinions on a social issue. Detailed sidebars offer additional information about both sides of the debate, while fullcolor photographs engage readers with the havoc being wreaked on an animal habitat of particular concernours. The authors provide a reasoned and impassioned call for government to stop toxic trespass by the fracking industry. Learn the frack story the strengths and challenges this new world of energy presents to each of us. Dec 15, 20 clear, concise explanations of fracking will introduce readers to one of the hottest political and environmental topics of our time. Mooney, chris, scientific american, 00368733, nov2011, vol. The problem with fictional accounts of the fracking boom is the real thing proves far more captivating.
The real risks of the shale gas revolution, and how to manage them. Theres been a major expansion of frac sand mining operations in wisconsin and minnesota. It works by injecting fracking fluid water with chemicals added at high pressure into wells to create cracks in the rock. My last two books may not be carbonneutral, but they are jargonneutral, since theyre wellwritten, wellreported, and very human. Missing answers a natural gas boom is under way in the united states, with more than 200,000 wells drilled in just under a decade. New waterless fracking method avoids pollution problems. The farmers, retirees and children we meet in these pages are canaries in the fracking mineand. I think that a decision to structure a books chapter around gasland is a long leap from being. Nevertheless, the boom is an easy read, which is a compliment for a book that is about a process rather than a person. Natural gas can be found underground in more than two dozens states in the united states.
New waterless fracking method avoids pollution problems, but drillers slow to embrace it higher cost, lack of data and industry habit stand in the way. How americas shale gas boom is threatening our families, pets, and foodmichelle bamberger and robert oswaldbeacon press books. Eliza griswold uncovers the human cost of fracking the. Fracking controversy top 10 myths about natural gas drilling. Hydraulic fracturing of the deep rock beneath our feet is revolutionizing energy production, power generation and global energy demand. In the past two years alone, a series of surface spills, including two blowouts at wells operated by chesapeake energy and eog resources and a spill of 8000 gallons of. In communities across the us, people are hearing more and more about a controversial oil and. The book includes texts by kent haruf, toby jurovics, and inara verzemnieks and is published by damiani. Journalist, eliza griswold just won a pulitzer prize and a bernstein award for her recent book, amity and prosperity. Michelle bamberger, a veterinarian, and robert oswald, a pharmacologist, combine their expertise to show how contamination at drilling sites translates into ill health and heartbreak for families and their. Even at its most basic level, the book is a fascinating story about the energy booms relationship to the natural land. However, the book is organized around the firsthand experiences of the animals. We have brilliant minds, inventors, engineers in the us.
Fracking now represents more than 3% of the nations gdp, putting america on the road towards energy independence as crude oil imports have dropped by more than 40%. When natural gas drilling moves into an urban or a suburban neighborhood, a twohundredfoothigh drill appears on the other side of a back yard fence and diesel trucks clog a quiet twolane residential street. The process involves the highpressure injection of fracking fluid primarily water, containing sand or other proppants suspended with the aid of thickening agents into a wellbore to create. Labour government would ban fracking in uk environment. While this cleanburning fossil fuel might be the answer to us dependence on overseas oil, the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing is causing severe ecological harm. Images of flaming water from faucets, stories of sickened families, and incidents of blowouts and spills. However, it is by showing the pervasiveness of fracking s harmful effects on the lives of the householders that bamberger and oswald best convey its true costs. In the real cost of their report documented cases studies with animal owners in colorado, louisiana, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, and texas. In this cool, disarming and persuasive indictment of frackings widespread negative consequences, the authors provide an important addition to an ongoing debate. The real cost of fracking describes clearly these findings. The real cost of fracking adroitly documents the maladies that fracking inflicts on its neighbors and their animals, and bamberger and oswald convincingly connect these illnesses with current science and statistical studies. In dimock, pennsylvania, fracking operations contaminated the drinking water wells of several households for roughly three years, perhaps more.
Firms have not even been required to publish the chemicals they use. Each chapter focuses on a particular controversy, such contamination of well water with gas from fracking, and follows a similar format. The cost of fracking and frac sand mining environment minnesota. A horizontal news sharing network for those who want to be fully informed rather than fracked about fracking hydraulic fracturing and. Gold peppers the history of fracking with interesting context, such as the. Nov 28, 2014 the real cost of fracking describes clearly these findings. May 27, 2016 the problem with fictional accounts of the fracking boom is the real thing proves far more captivating. However, the true cost of fracking ranging from cleaning up contaminated water to repairing ruined roads and beyond are likely to be borne by the public, rather than the oil and gas industry.
More a worker steps through a maze of hoses at a remote fracking site run by halliburton for naturalgas producer williams in rulison, colo. Over the past decade, fracking has spread rapidly, leaving a trail of contaminated water, polluted air, and marred landscapes in its wake. How americas shale gas boom is threatening our families, pets, and food describes the results of this research. Apr 17, 2012 supporters claim fracking will herald an age of cheaper gas in the us, shale gas accounts for a quarter of the countrys gas industry and fracking has helped cut gas prices by 25% in the four. Exposing the real price of the us fracking industry youtube. Mar 14, 2014 nevertheless, the boom is an easy read, which is a compliment for a book that is about a process rather than a person. The operations and environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing by michael d. How americas shale gas boom is threatening our families, pets, and food, by michelle bamberger and robert oswald, got me thinking about interdependence, the reality that we are all connected through myriad threads, whether we acknowledge it or not.
Machinery used to fracture shale formations stands at a hydraulic fracking, or. A flare used to burn off excess natural gas produced by oil wells, mckenzie county, north dakota, 2014. Mas ultra school edition html full text the truth about fracking contents 1. Sep 15, 2019 for every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. Few subjects in contemporary american life would seem riper for a big social novel than. Hear and see the exciting story of jake and his frack crew as they explore americas shale fields. Clear, concise explanations of fracking will introduce readers to one of the hottest political and. The us government has placed the burden of proof on the public. A spokesman for the trade association that represents fracking companies, united kingdom onshore oil and gas ukoog, said a total of four wells had gone into the shale layer in. The real cost of fracking pulls back the curtain on how this toxic process endangers the environment and harms people, pets, and livestock. Nov 24, 2014 their new book, the real cost of fracking.
216 1464 1220 1005 1482 1577 1454 857 447 553 1566 795 1501 338 891 1387 1117 1195 1122 1046 1584 551 221 1401 363 1559 389 1342 847 1188 806 1402 1256 1322 445 1247 706 692 233 269 1011 700 90 1299