The Crippling Costs of a Fracking Ban (2024)

FAQs

What are the effects of the fracking ban? ›

A hydraulic fracturing ban would result in increases in energy costs for electricity, motor fuels, and natural gas; would burden American families, small businesses, hospitals, manufacturers; would have negative impacts on virtually all other sectors of the economy; and would inevitably stunt the post-pandemic economic ...

DISRUPTING OUR CLIMATE

Fracking releases large amounts of methane, a dangerously potent greenhouse gas. Fracked shale gas wells, for example, may have methane leakage rates as high as 7.9 percent, which would make such natural gas worse for the climate than coal. But fracking also threatens our climate in another way.

Fracking is expensive, but still less costly than the methods used to obtain oil from the wells mentioned above. According to Reuters, estimates put the break-even point for fracking at around $50 per barrel, but other estimates put it as low as $30 per barrel.

“Fracking uses vast quantities of chemicals known to harm human health… [including at least] 5 billion pounds of hydrochloric acid, a caustic acid; 1.2…

Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is revolutionizing oil and gas drilling across the country. However, without rigorous safety regulations, it can poison groundwater, pollute surface water, impair wild landscapes, and threaten wildlife.

The costs of fracking add up

Fracking damages the environment, threatens public health, and affects communities in ways that can impose a multitude of costs: Drinking water contamination – Fracking brings with it the potential for spills, blowouts and well failures that contaminate groundwater supplies.

Fracking has been blamed for leaking millions of tons of methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. Fracking is also associated with other airborne hydrocarbons that can cause health and respiratory issues. Fracking uses large amounts of water, which can become contaminated and affect local groundwater.

These effects include the contamination of drinking water, disruption of ecosystems, and adverse effects on human and animal health. Additionally, the practice of fracking increases the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, escalating the process of climate change and global warming.

Fracking increases the rate at which water, petroleum, or natural gas can be recovered from subterranean wells. Fracking also helped to revitalize local economies in some parts of the United States. Most of the opposition to fracking revolves around its potential negative impact on the environment.

Energy consumers are seeing economic gains

Moreover, all types of energy consumers, including commercial, industrial, and electric power consumers, saw economic gains totaling $74 billion per year from increased fracking.

Will fracking make gas cheaper? ›

The Bottom Line. Natural gas is cheaper than it would have been without fracking, even though the price has gone up. And with production still surging, it could stay that way for a while unless America starts exporting in great quantities.

Fracking is a temporary process that occurs after a well has been drilled and usually takes only about 3-5 days per well. Sometimes, wells are re-fracked to extend their production, but the energy each well can produce may last for 20 to 40 years.

The technological breakthrough in fracking, combined with directional drilling, has unleashed massive new supplies of shale oil and natural gas, cutting domestic and global energy prices dramatically, improving U.S. energy security and slashing pollution by displacing coal-fired power generation.

Vermont, which has no known frackable gas reserves, banned fracking preventatively in May 2012. In March 2017, Maryland became the second state in the US with proven gas reserves to pass a law banning fracking.

Losing Ground. The most obvious threats fracking poses to wildlife comes in the form of habitat loss. As rural areas become industrialized with each new well pad and its associated infrastructure, vital habitat for wildlife is altered or destroyed. And it's not just the area containing the well.

Air pollution and water contamination due to the toxic chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing are the greatest concerns within fracking sites, while the need for wastewater disposal and shrinking water supplies are also pressing issues directly related to the procedure.

Without that power, electricity grids would see widespread blackouts. Within a few weeks, a lack of oil — still the major fuel used for trucking and shipping goods worldwide — would impede deliveries of food and other essential goods.

Fracking technology has increased U.S. production of crude oil and the global supply. The increased supply of crude oil has reduced the price, but other factors also influence the price of oil. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and global economic shocks significantly affect the price of oil.