• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Earth Wise

A look at our changing environment.

  • Home
  • About Earth Wise
  • Where to Listen
  • All Articles
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / Archives for hydraulic fracturing

hydraulic fracturing

Shifting Climate Attitudes – Even In Texas | Earth Wise

January 25, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Attitudes on climate change continue to evolve

Any conversation about climate policy and energy in the United States has to take Texas into consideration.  Texas leads the nation in energy production, providing more than one-fifth of U.S. domestically produced energy.  Texas also uses more energy than any other state and accounts for almost one-seventh of total U.S. energy consumption.  The state’s industrial sector, which includes petroleum refining and chemical manufacturing, accounts for almost half of Texas energy consumption.

As a result, longstanding skepticism among Texans toward the climate movement has represented a real impediment in developing and implementing effective climate policy in this country.  But according to new research at the University of Houston, attitudes in Texas have changed and now mirror those in the rest of the United States.

About 80% of Americans believe that climate change is happening, and now about 81% of Texans hold the same view.  Two out of three Americans are worried about climate change; more than 60% of Texans agree.

Nationwide, 55% agree that the oil and gas industries have deliberately misled people on climate change; 49% of Texans agree. 64% of Americans say hydraulic fracking has a negative effect on the environment and 61% of Texans agree.  People everywhere are willing to pay more for carbon-neutral energy, and a higher premium for gasoline as well.

Mitigation strategies for climate change are not well understood.  While 61% nationwide have heard of carbon taxes, less than half are familiar with carbon management, and only a third have heard of carbon pricing.

As the U.S. heads toward reengaging in efforts to address climate change, Texans appear to have caught up with the rest of the nation.

**********

Web Links

Attitudes About Climate Change Are Shifting, Even in Texas

Photo, posted October 1, 2011, courtesy of Steve Rainwater via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Drilling In California

May 16, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

More than one million acres of public and private land in California may soon be opened up to oil drilling and hydraulic fracturing, according to a plan recently released by the Trump Administration.  The proposal raises environmental concerns, and comes at a time when opposition to oil and gas drilling in the state is growing.  

The plan, put forth by the Bureau of Land Management, would end a five-year moratorium in the state on leasing federal public land to oil and gas developers.  In 2013, a federal judge put the moratorium in place until the environmental risks of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, could be better evaluated.

Fracking is the process of injecting liquid at high pressure underground in order to crack open rocks and extract oil or gas.  Well-documented risks associated with fracking include air and water pollution, as well as increased risks of oil spills and earthquakes.

Nevertheless, the Bureau of Land Management, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, released its 174-page environmental impact statement with the proposal to open up 1,011,470 acres of land to fossil fuel extraction, impacting the California counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, and Ventura. 

Unsurprisingly, the draft plan has been praised by industry groups who say concerns are misguided, and slammed by environmentalists who say the move poses a serious public health risk and could lead to a “fracking frenzy.”

The proposal is now subject to a 45-day period for public comment, after which the Interior Department will determine how to proceed.  A link to weigh in on the proposal can be found here.

*********

Web Links

Trump fracking plan targets over 1 million acres in California

Bakersfield Field Office Hydraulic Fracturing Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

Photo, posted March 14, 2010, courtesy of Mike Baird via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Fracking And Streams

March 8, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/EW-03-08-18-Fracking-and-Streams.mp3

Hydraulic fracturing – better known as fracking – is a method of extracting oil and gas from shale deposits in which millions of gallons of freshwater and chemicals are injected into deep underground deposits.  There has been a great deal of concern related to the effects that this process has on water quality and also on the stability of the ground in the vicinity of where it takes place.

[Read more…] about Fracking And Streams

The Threat Of Man-Made Earthquakes

April 14, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/EW-04-14-17-Man-Made-Earthquakes.mp3

According to a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey, millions of people living in Oklahoma and parts of Kansas face significant potential for damaging earthquakes this year as a result of human activity.  The only other part of the continental United States facing a similar danger is California, which has natural faults lines slicing through the state.

[Read more…] about The Threat Of Man-Made Earthquakes

Fracking And Earthquakes

January 5, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/EW-01-05-17-Fracking-and-Earthquakes.mp3

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process in which water, chemicals and sand are injected at high pressure to split apart rock thousands of feet below Earth’s surface and release oil or natural gas.  And it’s a controversial practice. 

[Read more…] about Fracking And Earthquakes

Is Natural Gas Cleaner Than Coal?

January 7, 2016 By WAMC WEB

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/EW-01-07-16-Natural-Gas-and-Coal.mp3

The widespread use of hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) as well as improved drilling techniques have created a major boom in natural gas production.  This unquestionably has positive economic impacts for many.  One of the important consequences of this is that natural gas is increasingly taking the place of coal for powering electrical generating plants.

[Read more…] about Is Natural Gas Cleaner Than Coal?

A New Labeling Initiative

September 16, 2015 By EarthWise

Irrigated Lettuce

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/EW-09-16-15-Food-and-Fracking-Water.mp3

Hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – is a well-stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a pressurized liquid to free otherwise trapped natural gas or oil.

[Read more…] about A New Labeling Initiative

Primary Sidebar

Recent Episodes

  • A fern-based insecticide
  • Deeper corals bleaching
  • Wildlife rebounding in Uganda
  • Tracking down PFAS toxins
  • Electricity from chicken feathers

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)

Copyright © 2023 ·