Fracking has become
an easy target for
leftist candidates.
“Any proposal to avert
the climate crisis
must include a full
fracking ban on
public and private lands,”
Bernie Sanders tweeted
last September.
Is it feasible to ban fracking ?
Fracking is actually
hydraulic fracturing.
It's a drilling process
that involves injecting
a high-pressure mixture
containing water, sand,
and chemicals
into shale rock,
which fractures
the rock, releasing
oil and gas
trapped inside.
The process
often involves
horizontal drilling.
In the United States,
fracking increased
the amount of oil
and gas produced
“faster than at
any time in its history,”
according to the EIA.
Fracking brought down
energy prices so much,
the U.S. shale oil industry
has never been profitable.
Fracking lowered U.S.
CO2 emissions by
cheap natural gas
displacing the use of
carbon-intensive coal.
Today,
95% of all
wells drilled
in the US
are fracked.
One argument
against fracking
is that the process
of fracturing the earth
to release tight oil
causes earthquakes.
Another argument
is that injecting
chemicals
into the earth
pollutes nearby
aquifers.
Pennsylvania,
an important
swing state,
benefits from fracking
( and coal mining too ).
For New Mexico,
a study from the
US Chamber of
Commerce’s Global
Energy Institute
found that
a fracking ban
could cost
the state nearly
16% of its workforce.
Banning fracking
would require
an act of Congress.
A president,
without Congress,
could ban fracking
on federal lands.
Fracking regulations
on federal lands
have been proposed
in the past but were
consequently ruled
unlawful, because
States regulate
fracking.