Is Fracking Bad For The Environment, Or Just Bad For “Big Green?”
The Associated Press has an interesting article today about concerns over the tact President Obama will take toward domestic fossil fuel production, specifically the process of hydraulic fracturing which has set oil and natural gas production on fire but remains controversial in environmental circles.
It’s an important debate for the country, and a scary one for those of us living in areas like North Dakota where the national recession hasn’t had an impact thanks to a strong economy predicated upon energy development. But I had to laugh out loud when the AP listed the concerns of the anti-fracking crowd and listed, without a hint of irony, the fact that many hate fracking because it’s devastating in the energy markets to “renewable energy.”
PITTSBURGH — Energy companies, environmental groups and even Hollywood stars are watching to see what decisions President Barack Obama makes about regulating or promoting natural gas drilling.
The stakes are huge. Business leaders don’t want government regulations to slow the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars of clean, cheap domestic energy over the next few decades. Environmental groups see that same tide as a potential threat, not just to air and water, but to renewable energy. And on a strategic level, diplomats envision a future when natural gas helps make the U.S. less beholden to imports.
A “potential threat” to “renewable energy.”
That speaks volumes, doesn’t it? It’s almost as if the environmentalists hate fracking, and the energy boom it has set off, not so much because there are real environmental risks but because a resurgent domestic oil/gas industry is devastating to the case for continuing to squander billions of US tax dollars on green energy pipe dreams like solar and wind.
Tags: big green, envirionmentalism, fracking, natural gas, oil
