Fracking America

"Argues that obtaining energy through the hydraulic fracturing of shale rock is based on unstable economic foundations, and is having much more destructive effects on the economy and the government of the United States than its advocates claim"--

Fracking is the process of using high pressure salt water to break open the deep rock beneath our feet. This new applied technology is creating a generation of opportunity for America. Fracking has Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by a startling 450 million tons since 2005 Created nearly two million new jobs, with three million more during the next decade Reduced America's dependence upon foreign crude oil and gas by 40% since 2005 Added $100 billion in local state and federal tax revenues Put America on the road to becoming the world's biggest oil producer by 2020 Book jacket.

A riveting portrait of a rural Pennsylvania town at the center of the fracking controversy Shale gas extraction—commonly known as fracking—is often portrayed as an energy revolution that will transform the American economy and geopolitics. But in greater Williamsport, Pennsylvania, fracking is personal. Up to Heaven and Down to Hell is a vivid and sometimes heartbreaking account of what happens when one of the most momentous decisions about the well-being of our communities and our planet—whether or not to extract shale gas and oil from the very land beneath our feet—is largely a private choice that millions of ordinary people make without the public's consent. The United States is the only country in the world where property rights commonly extend "up to heaven and down to hell," which means that landowners have the exclusive right to lease their subsurface mineral estates to petroleum companies. Colin Jerolmack spent eight months living with rural communities outside of Williamsport as they confronted the tension between property rights and the commonwealth. In this deeply intimate book, he reveals how the decision to lease brings financial rewards but can also cause irreparable harm to neighbors, to communal resources like air and water, and even to oneself. Up to Heaven and Down to Hell casts America’s ideas about freedom and property rights in a troubling new light, revealing how your personal choices can undermine your neighbors’ liberty, and how the exercise of individual rights can bring unintended environmental consequences for us all.

Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction In Amity and Prosperity, the prizewinning poet and journalist Eliza Griswold tells the story of the energy boom’s impact on a small town at the edge of Appalachia and one woman’s transformation from a struggling single parent to an unlikely activist. Stacey Haney is a local nurse working hard to raise two kids and keep up her small farm when the fracking boom comes to her hometown of Amity, Pennsylvania. Intrigued by reports of lucrative natural gas leases in her neighbors’ mailboxes, she strikes a deal with a Texas-based energy company. Soon trucks begin rumbling past her small farm, a fenced-off drill site rises on an adjacent hilltop, and domestic animals and pets start to die. When mysterious sicknesses begin to afflict her children, she appeals to the company for help. Its representatives insist that nothing is wrong. Alarmed by her children’s illnesses, Haney joins with neighbors and a committed husband-and-wife legal team to investigate what’s really in the water and air. Against local opposition, Haney and her allies doggedly pursue their case in court and begin to expose the damage that’s being done to the land her family has lived on for centuries. Soon a community that has long been suspicious of outsiders faces wrenching new questions about who is responsible for their fate, and for redressing it: The faceless corporations that are poisoning the land? The environmentalists who fail to see their economic distress? A federal government that is mandated to protect but fails on the job? Drawing on seven years of immersive reporting, Griswold reveals what happens when an imperiled town faces a crisis of values, and a family wagers everything on an improbable quest for justice.

The “best all-around book yet on fracking” (San Francisco Chronicle) from a Pulitzer Prize finalist: “Gold's work is a tour de force of contemporary journalism” (Booklist). First invented in 1947, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has not only become a major source of energy, it is changing the way we use energy, and the energy we use. It is both a threat and a godsend for the environment, and it is leading the revival of manufacturing in the United States. A definitive narrative history, The Boom follows the twists and turns in the development and adoption of this radical technology. It is a thrilling journey filled with colorful characters: the green-minded Texas oilman who created the first modern frack; a bare-knuckled Oklahoman natural gas empire-builder who gave the world an enormous new supply of energy and was brought down by his own success and excesses; an environmental leader whose embrace of fracking brought an end to his public career; and an aging fracking pioneer who is now trying to save the industry from itself. A fascinating and exciting exploration of one of the most controversial and promising sources of energy, The Boom “brings new clarity to a subject awash in hype from all sides…a thoughtful, well-written, and carefully researched book that provides the best overview yet of the pros and cons of fracking. Gold quietly leads both supporters and critics of drilling to consider other views” (Associated Press).

A pharmacologist and a veterinarian pull back the curtain on the human and animal health effects of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” Across the country, fracking—the extraction of natural gas by hydraulic fracturing—is being touted as the nation’s answer to energy independence and a fix for a flagging economy. Drilling companies assure us that the process is safe, politicians push through drilling legislation without a serious public-health debate, and those who speak out are marginalized, their silence purchased by gas companies and their warnings about the dangers of fracking stifled. The Real Cost of Fracking pulls back the curtain on how this toxic process endangers the environment and harms people, pets, and livestock. Michelle Bamberger, a veterinarian, and Robert Oswald, a pharmacologist, combine their expertise to show how contamination at drilling sites translates into ill health and heartbreak for families and their animals. By giving voice to the people at ground zero of the fracking debate, the authors vividly illustrate the consequences of fracking and issue an urgent warning to all of us: fracking poses a dire threat to the air we breathe, the water we drink, and even our food supply. Bamberger and Oswald reveal the harrowing experiences of small farmers who have lost their animals, their livelihoods, and their peace of mind, and of rural families whose property values have plummeted as their towns have been invaded by drillers. At the same time, these stories give us hope, as people band together to help one another and courageously fight to reclaim their communities. The debate over fracking speaks to a core dilemma of contemporary life: we require energy to live with modern conveniences, but what degree of environmental degradation, health risks, and threats to our food supply are we willing to accept to obtain that energy? As these stories demonstrate, the stakes couldn’t be higher, and this is an issue that none of us can afford to ignore.

Daniel Raimi gives a balanced and accessible view of oil and gas development, clearly and thoroughly explaining the key issues surrounding the shale revolution. The Fracking Debate provides the evidence and context that have so frequently been missing from discussion of the future of oil and gas production.

Fracking America, by Dr. Walter M. Brasch, is a comprehensive and well-documented look at the impacts of a controversial process to extract gas and oil from more than a mile below the earth’s surface. It is a cross-over book that meets the demanding standards of academic scholarship, while also being easily readable by the general population. Among the chapters are those that focus upon the economic, political, health, and environmental impacts of fracking. The book also includes chapters about the history of oil/gas extraction, psychological and sociological effects upon those living in the shale areas, worker safety issues, effects upon agriculture and livestock, problems with fossil fuel transportation, theological perspectives about fracking and the environment, the anti-fracking movement, how the media cover the fracking industry and how the industry and those opposed to fracking use the media, and renewable energy. He also looks at colleges that allow fracking on their campuses and which also conduct, often for questionable motives and with grant money from the industry, research into fracking that reflects industry talking points. Fracking America presents complicated issues in an easy-to-understand fashion, while also humanizing the problems. Dr. Brasch interviewed more than 300 persons--including health and environmental professionals and citizen-activists, those who work in the industry, government officials, and those directly affected by the fracking process--in his research for the book. The book also reveals the often secret connections between politicians and the industry. It is this connection that has led to exaggerated claims about economic benefits, while disregarding health and environmental problems. The long-term benefits that politicians and the industry claim are nothing less than hype, says the author who had predicted the “boom” to “bubble” to “bust” in fracking long before it has become economically difficult for many oil and gas extraction corporations to survive.

About the book: "Fracking America," by Dr. Walter M. Brasch, is a comprehensive and well-documented look at the impacts of a controversial process to extract gas and oil from more than a mile below the earth's surface. It is a cross-over book that meets the demanding standards of academic scholarship, while also being easily readable by the general population. Among the chapters are those that focus upon the economic, political, health, and environmental impacts of fracking. The book also includes chapters about the history of oil/gas extraction, psychological and sociological effects upon those living in the shale areas, worker safety issues, effects upon agriculture and livestock, problems with fossil fuel transportation, theological perspectives about fracking and the environment, the anti-fracking movement, how the media cover the fracking industry and how the industry and those opposed to fracking use the media, and renewable energy. He also looks at colleges that allow fracking on their campuses and which also conduct, often for questionable motives and with grant money from the industry, research into fracking that reflects industry talking points. "Fracking America" presents complicated issues in an easy-to-understand fashion, while also humanizing the problems. Dr. Brasch interviewed more than 300 persons--including health and environmental professionals and citizen-activists, those who work in the industry, government officials, and those directly affected by the fracking process--in his research for the book. The book also reveals the often secret connections between politicians and the industry. It is this connection that has led to exaggerated claims about economic benefits, while disregarding health and environmental problems. The long-term benefits that politicians and the industry claim are nothing less than hype, says the author who had predicted the "boom" to "bubble" to "bust" in fracking long before it has become economically difficult for many oil and gas extraction corporations to survive. About the Author: Dr. Brasch, whose undergraduate work was in sciences and sociology/social welfare, is a former newspaper and magazine reporter and editor, and former writer-producer of multimedia productions. He is professor emeritus of journalism and mass communications from the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Currently, he is a syndicated social issues columnist and commentator on social issues for the Sunbury Broadcasting Corp. Fracking America is his 20th book, most of which fuse history with contemporary social issues. He has won more than 200 media awards, including multiple awards from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, National Federation of Press Women, Society of Professional Journalists, Associated Press Broadcasters Association, Pennsylvania Women's Press Association, Press Club of Southern California, Pacific Coast Press Club, and California Newspaper Publishers Association. He is also the recipient of the Pennsylvania Press Club's Communicator of Achievement award for lifetime service to journalism.

The use of fracking is a tremendously important technology for the recovery of oil and gas, but the advantages and costs of fracking remain controversial. This book examines the issues and social, economic, political, and legal aspects of fracking in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells—known commonly as "fracking"—has been in use in the United States for more than half a century. In recent years, however, massive expansion of shale gas fracturing across the nation has put fracking in the public eye. Is fracking a "win win" like its proponents say, or are there significant costs and dangers associated with the use of this energy production technology? This book examines fracking from all angles, addressing the promise of the United States becoming energy independent through the use of the process to tap the massive amounts of natural gas and oil available as well as the host of problems associated with fracking—groundwater contamination and increased seismic activity, just to mention two—that raise questions about the long-term feasibility of the process as a source of natural gas. The first part of the book provides a historical background of the topic; a review of technical information about fracking; and a detailed discussion of the social, economic, political, legal, and other aspects of the current fracking controversy. The second part of the book provides a host of resources for readers seeking to learn even more in-depth information about the topic, supplying a chronology, glossary, annotated bibliography, and profiles of important individuals and organizations. Written specifically for students and young adults, the content is accessible to readers with little or no previous knowledge regarding fracking.