There may be significant natural gas reserves just waiting to be extracted in Western Maryland, but there is little political will in the state to access them. Why are our state’s policymakers so hesitant to allow an industry with high-paying jobs to drill for a relatively environmentally-friendly energy source?
Josh Kurtz has an excellent article at Center Maryland about this issue. As he points out:
According to a recent University of Maryland study, between $6 billion and $49 billion worth of natural gas reserves exist in Garrett and Allegany counties, just waiting to be tapped. There’s gold in them thar hills – fast-moving, invisible gold – and already prospectors and local governments have dollar signs dancing in their heads, fueling a 21st Century version of the Wild West.
Western Maryland is part of an enormous underground rock formation called the Marcellus Shale, which takes in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee and a tiny sliver of New Jersey. By all accounts, there’s an unbelievable amount of natural gas down there – enough to help ease the country’s energy crisis if it’s drilled and brought to the surface.
As I’ve written previously, the issue that’s stopping these reserves from being accessed involves the process of hydraulic fracturing (also called “fracking”). This process blasts a mixture of mostly sand and water (along with minute amounts of other chemicals) into the shale rock to free up the natural gas that’s trapped there. Kurtz outlines the objections to this process:
Marc Kilmer is a Senior Fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute. He lives in Wicomico County with his wife and daughter.
" This process blasts a mixture of mostly sand and water (along with minute amounts of other chemicals)..."
ReplyDeleteIf the chemicals involved are in a "minute" amount, and so unimportant as to be ignored, then why do the companies involved in fracking refuse to release the names of these chemicals and really tell us what they are shooting into the ground and the water supply?
I realize they legally hide behind the blanket of "industry secrets," but since the practice of fracking has a batting average of .000 when it comes to pubic disclosure and the happiness of local residents, I think we should look at the long term effects of this before claimng the loss of jobs that are not here to loose.
If teh chemical are harmless tell us what they are. Pour them in a glass and have your child drink them down. I am sure residents of western Maryland (which, in most of your opinions, is a useless part of the state) could use new jobs and income, but they don't want their tap water to catch on fire.
Minute amount of chemicals is a lie, a bold faced lie. Ask those people in Bradford County, PA how minute and safe those chemicals are. Ask them why they can't water their cattle or fish the streams since that well exploded and dumped that "minute" amount of chemicals. The gas companies are pulling at your wallet strings hoping greed will overtake common sense. Just wait until the chemicals spilled in PA reach the Chesapeake Bay, then you'll hear some screaming. Marylanders are wise to avoid the drilling. Money isn't everything when it costs more to repair and replace all the harm done to the environment than they will pay for drilling on your land. SAY NO TO GAS DRILLING!
ReplyDelete7:07 and 7:35
ReplyDeleteYou two should check facts before to pop off.
The lefties have demonized every attempt to harvest domestic energy and fracking is certainly safe.
If we started today to provide local service points where you could fill up your car with refined gasoline, the lefties would scream about how unsafe and dangerous it is. Look in your garage, do you have a portable container with gasoline in it? Do you have a propane tank buried in your back yard?
Get real!
8:55 - So you will let your child drink a cup full of the safe cehmicals that are used?
ReplyDeleteI do not object at all to new domestic energy. Heck, if we can figure out what to do with the waste I say build as many Nuclear reactors as we can.
The point the "lefties" (including those horrible socialst, wet-pants libs who live with flammable drinking water) is this: Do't be so gung-ho to chase after dollars or promises of goodtimes without a little due diligence.
The ones who are telling us that this practice is safe are the leaders of the industry. It is like the government telling us "everything is OK, trust us."
Would you trust them?