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Environmental Policy in the OECD

The Fight Over Fracking

April 2, 2013 | by ALISON SINGER

Anti-fracking demonstration in New York, August 2012 © Adam Welz for CREDO Action via Flickr


As the world hurtles towards catastrophic climate change, it is imperative to evaluate current policies, implement new policies, and transition towards a planet less dependent on fossil fuels. Easily accessible fossil fuels have been severely depleted due to our dependence on them.


How Does Fracking Work?

Fracking is a way to increase the efficiency of oil and gas wells, as well as access previously untapped reserves. It is performed by pumping fracturing fluid (composed of water, chemicals, and proppants) into a wellbore. Fracking has the most developed history in the United States, where it has been contributing to increased oil and natural gas production for several years.

Shale gas in particular has been heralded as an energy revolution: It has grown from 2 percent of US gas production in 2000 to 40 percent in 2012, and is touted as a substantially cleaner alternative to coal.

Thomas L. Friedman, author of Hot, Flat, and Crowded, agrees that fracking should be exploited, as it is much cleaner than coal and inexpensive to disseminate. However, he is clear about the environmental dangers of fracking, including large amounts of methane leakage. Methane is even more dangerous than carbon dioxide in terms of its atmospheric warming properties.


Another Energy Policy is Possible

Thomas Princen and his colleagues explore this possible new future in the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2013. They understand that we live in a world built by fossil fuels, and we cannot simply ignore the energy potential of fossil fuels, but in order to prevent catastrophic climate change, we must utilize that potential as a springboard towards a renewable world.

Fossil fuels must be strictly regulated and used only when a substitute cannot be found. Instead of racing to uncover hidden reservoirs of fossil fuels, the authors argue that we must "imagine a deliberately chosen post-fossil fuel world," and then act in such a way to make that dream a reality.

However, it is difficult for many to ignore the immediate economic benefits to fracking. Boom towns have arisen in congruence with the increased emphasis on fracking, and some of the most depressed parts of the United States now have unemployment rates below 1 percent, providing high-paying jobs to thousands of workers.


Fracking Prompts Protests and Legal Actions Across the Globe

From an environmental perspective, fracking poses a number of risks. Millions of gallons of water are pumped underground, and in places that already suffer from water shortages, this will only add to the problem. Chemicals are mixed with the water, and multiple studies have shown that these chemicals may contaminate groundwater, though the results are controversial. In addition to massive water usage and groundwater contamination, fracking has also been linked to increases in seismic activity.

Indeed, many areas have banned fracking in response to public outcries and environmental concern. In 2011, France became the first country to ban fracking, and lawmakers have vowed to uphold the ban until it can be proven that fracking definitively does not lead to groundwater contamination.


Societies Built on Fossil Fuels are Unsustainable


Additionally, shifting from coal to natural gas simply shifts our reliance from one fossil fuel to another. While we have built a society on fossil fuels, it is becoming increasingly obvious that we cannot sustain such a society for very much longer.



Additionally, many states continue to have high CO2 emissions and a lack of incentives for renewable energy. The SGI’s analysis points to some serious problems in the current environmental policies of OECD countries, and is indicative of the global difficulty to lower emissions and move towards a more renewable, sustainable society.

Alison Singer is pursuing a master's degree in Environmental Policy and Politics at Appalachian State University and writes for the blog "Is Sustainability Still Possible?" of the Worldwatch Institute.


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