Fracking and Its Consequences (Stage 8)

Forest at Longhorn Politics brings up the issue of "fracking" which has become a crucial topic lately. What is it and why has it become such a big deal recently? Fracking is the cornerstone of America's push for energy independence. Most politicians, including Obama, have given oil and gas industries full endorsement to carry out these new drilling techniques with little restriction. Energy independence has been an elusive goal for the United States ever since the oil embargo in the 70s. Now with that goal within their reach law makers are pushing hard with little concern for the long term consequences. Namely the environment and as Forest mentions our drinking water. Many of the techniques used to crack the shale layer use toxic chemicals that leech into the groundwater. Once in our drinking supply these chemicals are almost impossible to filter out. Not to mention, Texas is in short supply of fresh water these days. Our water supply is going to be an important election issue for the coming decades. I don't see how our local politicians can afford to look the other way but it seems like that's exactly what they're are doing.

Texas with its large reserves of oil will no doubt be a key player in the fracking game. One of the issues Forest brings up is corruption. He has a good point considering that the Texas Lege heavily favors deregulating the energy industry. Lack of regulation is one of the main reasons why Texas ranks among the highest in the nation regarding pollution. I'm also certain that special interests groups will bombard us with plenty of disinformation regarding the safety of fracking. And considering the amount of money that goes into the energy industry these will be some of the best financed groups around.

I would also like to add that some analysts have argued that driving down oil prices will lead to more unrest in already unstable regions. Regions that depend on the supply of oil and the United State's military protection for stability. Which means the US will most likely increase its efforts to stabilize these regions. Will fracking be the key to our survival or downfall? With the New York Times claiming that the "United States is on track to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer as early as 2017," it is clear that fracking isn't going away anytime soon.