How Americans came to oppose fracking - The Bradford Era: Opinion - How Americans came to oppose fracking: Opinion
For the first time
since high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as
nonconventional fracking, was developed, more Americans oppose it than
support it.
According to a
national survey conducted by the independent non-partisan Pew Research
Center, 47 percent of Americans oppose fracking, while 41 percent
support it. This is a 7 percent decline in support from March 2013, and a
9 percent increase in opposition.
The poll also reveals those who support fracking
tend to be conservative men over 50 years old with only a high school
education, and living in the South. However, support for fracking has
decreased in all categories, while opposition has increased.
Fracking is the controversial method of drilling a
bore hole into the earth’s crust as deep as 12,000 feet. The company
sends fracking tubing, which has small explosive charges in it, to
create a perforated lateral borehole, about 90 degrees from the vertical
bore hole, which fractures the shale for up to about 6,000 feet to open
channels and force out natural gas and fossil fuels. A mixture of
proppants, toxic chemical additives, radioactive isotopes, and as much
as 10 million gallons of fresh water are put into the tubes at a
pressure of up to 15,000 pounds per square inch. About 650 of the 750
chemicals used in fracking operations are known carcinogens, according
to a report filed with the U.S. House of Representatives in April 2011.
Numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies have
shown environmental and public health dangers; other research reveals
dangers because of the exploration, drilling, storage, wastewater
disposal, and transportation parts related to fracking.
To understand why there has been a shift in
public attitudes about horizontal fracking, it’s important to understand
the nature of the mass media....Read more
http://www.bradfordera.com/opinion/article_e0c38684-7432-11e4-89c7-ab3bad3738a4.html
