Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Fracking

Today I'm going to discuss Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking, fracing, fraccing).  There are some benefits to this process, well water drilling, waste disposal, but their are many environmental and health risks.  Below are some videos that demonstrate a major issue, burning tap water. That is, it ignites, FIRE WATER!  I'll mention some things from a movie called Gasland that was an Oscar nominated documentary in 2011 (easily accessible on Netflix streaming).  There are some errors in the film it seems (NYTimesDebunking Gasland) but it does raise very interesting questions that aren't fully discussed, if at all, even by critics of the film; the director, Josh Fox, issued his own rebuttal to the energy industries rebuttal.  I did t post that because it's very much the same arguments found in his movie, simply extensions.

http://youtu.be/U01EK76Sy4A
http://youtu.be/4LBjSXWQRV8
http://youtu.be/VEQMA0zwMM4

Anyway, much like my discussion on mental issues, don't expect a PowerPoint.  Instead, I'll talk for a minute and then we can discuss.

-Tim


1 comment:

  1. After your report I heard a long discussion of fracking on "Here & Now"... I think there's a chance of getting a significant public dialogue on this issue going, at last. If voters understand the risks, they'll be more likely to support the development of alt fuels, maybe even the idea of scaling back our energy "needs" and living more lightly. You may say I'm a dreamer but...

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