The government should make a bigger appearance in the world of Fracking because it causes irrevocable damage. Fracking is the process of injecting sand, rocks, and water into the ground at a very high pressure to break up rocks that contain natural gas and oil deposits. One of the biggest problems about fracking is that it destroys the coal industry. Now that fracking has come along people want to switch from coal to natural gas because it is cheaper. The problem with that is that Natural Gas will eventually run out.
America has more than a quarter of world coal reserves. We are nicknamed the Saudi Arabia of coal. Virtually all of the coal mined here goes to generate our electricity. Our electric grid was designed based on major coal burning plants. Eliminating coal to generate electricity requires both expensive new generation facilities and expensive grid modifications. Meaning realistically it is not cheaper to switch to natural gas.
(Source 4) Not to mention the fact that the coal industry is a major economy booster. The coal industry not only gives us a product we can export when we need extra money, but it also creates many jobs. An estimated 60,000 Americans work in coal-fired power plants. That ‘s not even counting the jobs coal mining produces. On average, your everyday coal miner makes around 73,000 dollars a year. That’s enough money for any family in the U.
S to live off of comfortably.(Source 4) As mentioned in an above paragraph, Natural Gas will eventually run out. Evidence suggests that Natural Gas production was oversold. In fact, “America’s 100 years of Natural Gas” was based on unrealistic evidence. Turns out there are only a few geological locations in America that offer great amounts of Natural Gas. Thes.
.hat can potentially contaminate water sources but have not yet: spills, cracks in equipment intended to seal wells, improper disposal of wastewater, and contamination from chemicals.(Source 7) Finally, Fracking can really help our economy. If we were to export our oil and gas foreign markets for U.S. crude oil and natural gas will spur additional production of said oil and gas.
It will also create thousands of jobs. It would also generate billions of dollars in net wealth. This could potentially create 665,000 direct and indirect jobs by the year 2035.(Source 5) Fracking can lead to many changes in the United States. Both good and bad changes. But taking the Coal Industry out is both unnecessary and irresponsible.
Yes we should find a cleaner energy, but America does not have to remove its carbon footprint all at once. Nor should it, the cost would be too great.
