Fracking Argumentative Essay

The use of hydraulic fracking has been around since the 1940’s to extract small batches of natural gas. It was not until 2003 that the fracking process started extracting large quantities of natural gas and oil. Today, there is major controversy over the idea that hydraulic fracturing may or may not be harmful to the earth. One side says it is safe to use hydraulic fracking, others state that it is dangerous to society. Many people believe fracking is harmful to the environment because it pollutes the air and water and can possibly inject harmful chemicals in the earth.
For many years, scientists have studied the effects of hydraulic fracturing on water sources. With much controversy they say that hydraulic fracking is “subject to both federal and state regulations,” and there “have not been any instances” where fracking has contaminated sources of drinking water
Overtime-harmful chemicals leak into the surrounding soil and rocks (Squire 31). Though there is a ninety-nine percent chance that there are no leaks during fracking there is always the one percent chance that human error can cause leaks. Most of the time, that one-percent of error is caused by humans when the drill is assembled. When these chemicals leak, they “can cause serious damage to the surrounding ecosystems” (Squire 33). If hydrochloric acid were to leak into rivers or into the soil, it would essentially kill everything living near it. Preventing this is a major concern in protecting our environment. Injecting chemicals in the earth can ultimately kill everything on it.
Majority of people today are against the idea of hydraulic fracturing. They believe that it pollutes the air, water, and soil. Natural gas and oil are clean burning fuels that are located in the United States. The process of hydraulic fracturing is not clean and action must be taken to change the way drilling occurs, making it clean and