Fracked if we do, Fracked if we don’t!
Amid the growing debate and controversy surrounding ‘fracking,’ which has been heralded as the future for energy security (certainly from our American counterparts), there has also been a second band of discussion around the environmental impact of burning gas compared to its dirtier alternatives. While in the UK, 2012 reports suggest an upshot in carbon emissions of 4.5%, the US has been proclaiming its success in driving down its emissions over the last few years (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/01/us-carbon-emissions-lowest-levels) as its shale gas industry has boomed and green technologies and alternative energies have been utilised.
With such a success story, why then would the UK not want to get on board with the fracking band wagon? Well besides the national arguments growing over the geological and environmental concern of this controversial technique (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20595228) it seems that the US success story is not as clean-cut as has perhaps been advocated.
What political leaders seem to forget is that, while a national success bodes well on paper for their country, we still live on a planet that shares the same atmosphere, oceans and ecosystem that enables the planet to sustain human life (…for now!) This means then that there needs to be a global agreement if we are truly committed to reversing the impact that the human population has had on this planet since we first came to be.
The following featured article brings a new perspective to the fracking and environmental deabte http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/05/us-emissions-extraction-fracking It raises the concern that although the US as a nation is managing to reduce its annual emissions, the fact that it is now exporting its coal reserves abroad, which in turn are burnt by other nations for fuel, means that the net emissions are NOT reduced but more than likely continuing to creep up!
Related articles
- The rise and rise of American carbon (theguardian.com)
- A True Fracking Story – UK Take Heed – Part 4 (dralfoldman.com)
- No Fracking Way (think-left.org)
Portfolio Penguin Blog 
An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a colleague who has been doing a little research on this. And he in fact ordered me dinner because I stumbled upon it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending some time to talk about this subject here on your web site.