Hydrofracking Hysteria Gets Cold Shoulder in the UK

I say hydrofracking hysteria as there is no other explanation for it. I came across an article at Salon.com the other day that made the assertion, without a single iota of evidence, that "gas drilling contaminates your food".

Written by Barry Estabrook it should be used as the primer for those wishing to advocate hyperbole and rhetoric over substance. As an example he notes an occurrence that took place in Pennsylvania when the Department of Agriculture quarantined cattle from a Tioga County farm after a number of cows came into contact with drilling wastewater from a nearby natural gas operation.

From Mr. Estabrook's article:

"The animals had come into wastewater that leaked from a nearby well that showed concentrations of chlorine, barium, magnesium, potassium, and radioactive strontium." (Emphasis mine)

Fair enough I suppose, only there was never any assertion by the Department of Agriculture that radioactive strontium was ever identified. If you are wondering what happened to the unfortunate cows poisoned by frack fluid they were quarantined from the food supply following the recommended guidelines from the Food Animal Residue Avoidance and Depletion Program.

That's a pretty nice bit of regulation we have there, I think.

The author adds this frightening anecdote without attribution:

"In Louisiana, 16 cows that drank fluid from a fracked well began bellowing, foaming and bleeding at the mouth, then dropped dead. Homeowners near fracked sites complain about a host of frightening consequences, from poisoned wells to sickened pets to debilitating illnesses."

I see this type of argument regularly. Just today a Facebook friend linked an article from Fuel Fix titled "Nat gas feud pits prosperous N. Texans against energy industry". While the article is very short on facts it is rich with anecdotes, hyperbole and innuendo.

Property owners describing soap like bubbles floating off the drain pipes. Asthma, headaches, weird rashes and debilitating vertigo puzzling doctors who ultimately are left asking what these people have been exposed to. Such an intuitive physician. I would argue though, having seen it first hand, that the true motivation can be found in this short passage: "He said he has sunk $1.2 million into the two-acre property over the last four and a half years, building a house, landscaping it and putting in an irrigation system for a small vineyard he and his wife had wanted to plant." Sounds a lot like what I hear up here in beautiful New York.

While this nonsense continues to be trumpeted in the states there seems to be some degree of sanity and critical thinking taking place across the pond. Today the UK Parliament Energy and Climate Committee published one of the first reports on shale gas outside of North America and the report will no doubt come as a shock to progressive environmentalists and potentially the New York state Department of Environmental Protection.

Tim Yeo MP, Chairman of the Committee said:

"There has been a lot of hot air recently about the dangers of shale gas drilling, but our inquiry found no evidence to support the main concern – that UK water supplies would be put at risk.

There appears to be nothing inherently dangerous about the process of 'fracking' itself and as long as the integrity of the well is maintained shale gas extraction should be safe.

The Government's regulatory agencies must of course be vigilant and monitor drilling closely to ensure that air and water quality is not being affected."

The report adds:

The inquiry found no evidence that the hydraulic fracturing process involved in shale gas extraction – known as ‘fracking’ - poses a direct risk to underground water aquifers provided the drilling well is constructed properly. The committee concluded that, on balance, a moratorium in the UK is not justified or necessary at present.

The MPs, nevertheless, urge the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to monitor drilling activity extremely closely in its early stages in order to assess its impact on air and water quality.

It didn't take very long for enviro tears to start flowing:

Craig Bennett, the policy and campaigns director at Friends of the Earth, said: "Instead of seeing shale gas as a miracle fix, the government should focus on developing the clean, safe energy alternatives at our fingertips like solar power and wind."

Allott added: "Shale gas is a dangerous distraction from the urgent need for us to tackle climate change. Chasing after risky and hard-to-get fossil fuels like shale gas, tar sands or drilling for oil in the Arctic may seriously undermine the move towards renewables as the only effective and sustainable solution to our energy challenges."

That last paragraph pretty effectively sums up the argument against energy production. If it is effective and scalable, it is unacceptable!

It will be more than fascinating to see how this plays out in the states. I can hardly wait!

H/T No Hot Air

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