Opening statement
Across the Midwest, looming towers of metal penetrate the pristine sky and cut into the lush sea of grass carefully lapping the bottom. These towers speckled across the plains of the Midwest as well as the east coast, are natural gas wells. As our energy demands increase, this site is becoming more and more common. Natural gas has become a popular and viable option in order to meet our country’s growing energy demands. According to the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment), natural gas will surpass coal in energy production in 2034.
Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel; it is inexpensive and found abundantly throughout the United States. Some of the largest shale formations in the United States are the Barnett in central Texas, the Eagle Ford in southern Texas, the Bakken in North Dakota, and the Marcellus in Pennsylvania, which stretches into several neighboring states. Many believe natural gas is key in our quest for energy independence.
According to the EIA, our natural gas reserves will last for 92 years at our current rate of energy consumption. 92 years of providing for our western amenities is a relatively short time, compared to the long-term repercussions of fracking for natural gas.
Unfortunately, the impacts of fracking have already affected our environment as well as our social settings.
Small towns afflicted by natural gas booms, have had to deal with the repercussions of affluent natural gas companies fracking for gas on their land.
Sublette County, Wyoming was one of the many small towns affected by the natural gas boom. After taking water samples from the ground water in Sublette County, high levels of benzene were detected. In fact, the sample taken showed that the levels of benzene in the water were 1500 times the safe level for people to drink. Over 88 drinking water wells were contaminated. What’s concerning is Benzene is believed to cause aplastic anemia, which is when bone marrow and the red blood cells in it are damaged. Benzene is also believed to cause leukemia.
While listening to this debate, I would like you to keep this question in mind.
Is fracking really the best choice to sustain our energy needs when our lives and our environment are being endangered?
Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel; it is inexpensive and found abundantly throughout the United States. Some of the largest shale formations in the United States are the Barnett in central Texas, the Eagle Ford in southern Texas, the Bakken in North Dakota, and the Marcellus in Pennsylvania, which stretches into several neighboring states. Many believe natural gas is key in our quest for energy independence.
According to the EIA, our natural gas reserves will last for 92 years at our current rate of energy consumption. 92 years of providing for our western amenities is a relatively short time, compared to the long-term repercussions of fracking for natural gas.
Unfortunately, the impacts of fracking have already affected our environment as well as our social settings.
Small towns afflicted by natural gas booms, have had to deal with the repercussions of affluent natural gas companies fracking for gas on their land.
Sublette County, Wyoming was one of the many small towns affected by the natural gas boom. After taking water samples from the ground water in Sublette County, high levels of benzene were detected. In fact, the sample taken showed that the levels of benzene in the water were 1500 times the safe level for people to drink. Over 88 drinking water wells were contaminated. What’s concerning is Benzene is believed to cause aplastic anemia, which is when bone marrow and the red blood cells in it are damaged. Benzene is also believed to cause leukemia.
While listening to this debate, I would like you to keep this question in mind.
Is fracking really the best choice to sustain our energy needs when our lives and our environment are being endangered?
Closing Statement
While deliberating as to whether or not natural gas should be our primary source of energy, I would like you to think about whether or not our energy demands are more important than the people directly affected by the extraction of natural gas. The land that is being fracked to fuel our country’s energy needs is the same land that somebody calls “home.” When outsiders move to a booming town, they don’t have any regard for the land or for the people who live there. Outsiders often view the land as a money pit, as a way to make it through another month. Their connection to the land isn’t the same as the connection to someone who was born and raised there. Gene Veeder, who was born and raised in a small town on the Bakken formation, told Richard Manning from Harper’s Magazine, “It (as in the oil boom) did bring the world outside into the community, and that was an eye opener. People are just overwhelmed with the drugs and the prostitution and fights and all the things that come with oil fields.” I believe that before we think of ourselves, and of our immediate needs, we must think of the people and of the environmental impacts that are being affected by our insatiable demands.