Industry Word Games Mislead Americans on Fracking

SkyTruth |November 8, 2013 3:34 pm | Comments

By David Manthos

Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, and other drilling practices have unlocked previously inaccessible reserves of oil and gas across the U.S. and the world. However, some of the debate over fracking is distorting public understanding of these practices and interfering with good decision-making about this recent boom in unconventional oil and gas production.

The track record of modern fracking is shrouded in incomplete information, a misleading history and distorted by semantic arguments. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

We often hear statements like this from industry and pro-drilling politicians:

America has drilled and fracked more than 1 million wells over the past 60 years, and in all that time there has never been a proven case of groundwater contamination caused by fracking.

This statement, in some form or another, is repeated from the kitchen tables of ordinary citizens to the halls of Congress, as landmen use it to try to secure mineral rights from private landowners and legislators advocate for more drilling on millions of acres of public land. Even environmentalists, scientists, and regulators, when pressed, reluctantly confirm this statement is technically correct. Upon closer examination, however, this claim is a half-truth that muddles the debate on whether natural gas can be a bridge fuel to a cleaner energy future, or a dead-end. For the rest of this story please click the link to EcoWatch: http://ecowatch.com/2013/11/08/industry-mislead-americans-on-fracking/

Let’s take a closer look at some of these claims.