Hydraulic Fracturing Essay

Hydraulic fracturing is when a hole or "well" is drilled deep into the ground, in an effort to extract valuable natural gas reserves which exist beneath the surface. The process of constructing a hydraulic fracturing well includes drilling into the Earth--first vertically and then horizontally, then lining the well with a two-terminal tube with one terminal that is filled with water while the other pipes the recovered natural gases up above ground (Withgott & Laposata, 2014). In order to exhume the natural gasses, hydraulic fracturing injects water, sand and various other chemicals into the Earth, at such a high velocity that the underground shale rock bursts open, releasing the natural gas within it ("Fracking", 2015).
Although hydraulic fracturing positively impacts the environment by lessening the need for fossil fuels, based upon scientific data collected in places where hydraulic fracturing
By using natural gasses exhumed through hydraulic fracturing, the need for coal or oil to produce power in the United States is lowered, therefore reducing the total amount of greenhouses gasses emitted into the atmosphere (Withgott & Laposata, 2014). Because natural gas is cleaner-burning than either fossil fuel option, policymakers have supported the use and construction of hydraulic fracturing wells, however drilling operations have been exempt from some major federal environmental laws, which would monitor any negative environmental impact (Withgott & Laposata, 2014). This includes both the National Environmental Policy Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act (Withgott & Laposata, 2014). So, there is some good reason to encourage the use of hydraulic fracturing from an environmental point of view, but some major changes will need to be put in place in order for it to be done