Fracking
Essays

¶ … Pennsylvania Act 13? Compare it to Vermont's May 2012 legislation: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2012/Bills/Intro/H-464.pdf Compare these with the New York State decision on local control of fracking found in Doc…

Removing natural resources by means of forcing fluids and sand into fissures in high density reservoir rock is called hydraulic fracturing or fracking. Fracking is also used for additional processes but, it is the…

Fracking in Colorado Introduction Hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") is not a new approach to locating and exploiting gas and oil in the United States. It has been used as a strategy since 1949, according to Earthworks, an environmental group. Fracking is a strategy oil and gas companies use to retrieve quantities of oil and gas that are trapped in shales, coalbed formations and other underground areas that have previously been drilled. The environmental impacts of fracking can be significant, especially for neighborhoods and communities that are near to the fracking project. In Colorado there are a number of controversies surrounding the process of fracking, and this paper reviews those issues and proposes solutions to those issues.

Business Rhetoric: Drilling in the Marcellus Shale

Natural gas represents an important resource within the United States and more efforts are made to create energy sustainability using the resource. Still, the creation of a Schuylkill Energy LLC power plant and gas…

Our community faces a public health crisis of unprecedented proportions. My research leads me to believe that the cluster of unexplained illnesses that the people of this town have experienced over the years are the…

This paper is about Peak Oil, the theoretical limit to the amount of oil that can be consumed on Earth. This limit was first proposed in the 1950s, but has been gradually lifted since then due to new oil field discoveries, and advanced technology. This paper outlines five new technologies since the 1950s that have changed the perception of peak oil as an imminent global game changer.

'Peak oil:' When will we reach it? Does it matter?

This paper provides a proposal for a study to determine the accuracy of peak oil warnings from the world's energy industry. The paper includes sections for the explicit inclusion of one or more elements of the course, an elaboration of the peak oil scenario and a discussion concerning the cogency of the respective arguments about peak oil.

Regulating Oil and Gas Drilling and Transport Introduction. The American economy runs on energy produced from oil, coal, natural gas, hydroelectric power, nuclear power and renewable sources like solar and wind energies. In fact according to a report in the Congressional Research Service, oil provides the United States with 40% of its total energy needs. It is used in myriad ways, providing "…fuel for the transportation, industrial, and residential sectors" (Ramseur, 2012). Because of the great need for energy to fuel the American economy, oil in "vast quantities" enters the country and moves through the country by ships and by pipelines, Ramseur explains in the Congressional Research Service. Hence, it is inevitable that some spills will occur, and they certainly do occur, notwithstanding the attempts by the industry to conduct its business safely. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that the U.S. consumed 6.87 billion barrels (about 18.83 million barrels a day) in 2011, and that was a slight reduction from the 7.0 billion barrels consumed in 2010 (www.eia.gov). As for the amount of natural gas consumed in the U.S. annually, the EIA reports that Americans used approximately 24.38 trillion cubic feet in 2011 (www.eia.gov). There is no doubt that until such time as renewable sources provide far more energy for the nation, oil and natural gas in particular will be in great demand. This paper reviews current environmental problems associated with oil and gas production and offers strategies for safer ways to regulate oil and gas production. Thesis: Because of the risky strategies energy corporations take in retrieving oil and natural gas – and due to the leaks, spills, blowouts, tankers running around and other errors and disasters associated with oil extraction and transport – major new environmental regulations must be put on place regarding the drilling for oil. Moreover, current tactics for producing natural gas from existing wells – a process known as "fracking" – are not safe, do not protect the environment, have the potentiality of bringing harm residents and communities, and should be strictly regulated.