Lara Keel Lobbyist News: Nation Seeks Energy and Support for Fracking Grows
The following is a digest of a story originally published at the Dallas Business Journal. The Texas Lobby Group is publishing this digest as a public service for Texas citizens, other Texas lobbyists and lobbying firms, Texas government consultants and officials, and all other interested parties.
All throughout the country, support for hydraulic fracturing is quickly growing. Hydraulic fracturing is commonly known as “fracking”, or “hydrofracking”. This drilling process creates fractures in multiple layers of rock, providing access to petroleum and natural gases that may otherwise be inaccessible. There are great amounts of energy resources that fracking can provide. At the same time, opponents of fracking are very concerned by the negative environmental impacts that drilling and earth splitting could have. With gas prices at a high, more and more people are supporting fracking.
“‘Fracking is happening and it’s not going to stop, so we have to take the high road of good regulation and taxes so communities are better off, not worse off, after it’s done,’ Ted Boettner, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, told USA Today.”
Many voters and officials are supporting fracking, although some are proposing more taxes and/or regulations to keep it under control. There is evidence that excessive amounts of hydraulic fracturing can contaminate groundwater resources, bring pollutants and contamination to the surface, and create high levels of air pollution. Many countries have actually banned the fracking process, with France being the first in 2011. Other countries have halted induced fracturing until the impacts are better understood.
The benefits and costs of hydraulic fracturing will have to be weighed out by voters, and our elected officials. There is a clearly an urgent need for more energy, and fracking is a process that we are familiar with. Fueling with petroleum and natural gas are a means by which we live our lives. Newer, cleaner forms of energy are less established in consumer lives. Solar and wind energy are excellent resources, but they haven’t been around very long and many of our gadgets aren’t synced up with these energy sources. There is a great need for more energy, but where will we decide to source it from? And what will the consequences be?
Read the original story here.