Fracking and Natural Gas is Not the Answer

Updated 2024

The answer is not natural gas obtained by fracking. It is both polluting and expensive. It is certainly not a “bridge fuel” to renewable energy.

Fracking has been described as "in essence, explode a pipe bomb a few thousand feet beneath the surface, fracturing the surrounding rock."

Fracking is also used for uranium mining. Unregulated by the EPA because of congressional action combined with the support of Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden companies refuse to even reveal the chemicals they are "fracking" with, nobody is monitoring the pollution to water and our aquifers, and nobody is factoring the release of methane as a GHG. Of the 750 chemicals that can be used in the fracking process, more than 650 of them are toxic or carcinogens, according to a report filed with the U.S. House of Representatives in April 2011.

The reason we have so many continuously updated references in the below articles covering many years is to show this has been a settled matter for decades.

For articles like this covering different areas on the environment with over 2,500 references see https://www.newprogs.org/the_environment

References

1--Frackers Win With Obama’s New Greenhouse Gas Rule
2-Bayou Frack-Out: The Massive Oil and Gas Disaster You've Never Heard Of
3-Fracking Earthquakes: Injection Practice Linked to Scores of Tremors
4-Do We Have Enough Water to Frack Our Way to Energy Independence?
5-Report: Flaws in EPA drilling pollution data
6-Fracking our Farms: A Tale of Five Farming Families
7-A Must Read Account of Fracking Colorado
8-How Much Water Does It Take to Frack a Well?
9-Natural-gas liquid is gushing near a Colorado creek, and nobody can figure out how to stop it
10-Breaking: Obama EPA Shut Down Weatherford, TX Shale Gas Water Contamination Study
11-Anthony Ingraffea Lecture on Hydrofracking
12-Fracking records unsealed in Pennsylvania by Betsey Piette

13-The Toxic Assault on Our Children
14-Court ruling: Obama administration overlooked fracking risks
15-Fracking waste deemed too radioactive for hazardous-waste dump
16-One Big Lie About Fracking in Michigan
17-Fracking Water Use Draining Resources, Especially In Western U.S., New Studies Find
18-What the frack do we know? Not much, it turns out
19-Obama Admin. Approves ALEC Model Bill for Fracking Chemical Fluid Disclosure on Public Lands
20-Gas Industry Successfully Overturns Colorado Fracking Ban
21-Fracking accident leaks benzene into Colorado stream
22-Fracking's Methane Trail: A Detective Story
23-Sandra Steingraber’s War on Toxic Trespassers
24-Water Bankruptcy: Texas cities out of water but fracking continues
25-EPA won't confirm frack-pollution tie - EPA drops plan to confirm fracking linked to Wyoming pollution; state takes over
26-EPA abandons investigation into fracking pollution
27-EPA tells Ohio to stop keeping fracking secrets from first responders
28-EPA’s Abandoned Wyoming Fracking Study One Retreat of Many
29-Fracking Flares In North Dakota Bakken Shale Equal 1 Million Cars Each Year
30-'Gasland' sequel asserts drillers corrupting government
31-A Texan tragedy: ample oil, no water - Fracking boom sucks away precious water from beneath the ground, leaving cattle dead, farms bone-dry and people thirsty

32-Colorado’s fracking flood: new aerial photos, contamination fears

33-EPA halted 'fracking' case after gas company protested

34-Fracking Hell — The Untold Story

35-Fracking Wastewater Radioactive and Contaminated, Study Finds

36-Govt, Energy Industry Accused of Suppressing Fracking Dangers

37-The Dangers of Fracking: New Study Finds High Levels of Arsenic in Groundwater

38-The Gas Rush

39-Frack Off

40-What Is Fracking and Why Should It Be Banned?

41-Wrecking the Earth: Fracking has grave radiation risks few talk about

42-Six State Study Finds Jobs Impact of fracking exaggerated by industry and supporters

43-Fracking Activist Silenced for Doing EPA's Work

44-Dangerous Levels of Methane Found While Testing Natural Gas Leaks in D.C.

45-Here’s What Fracking Can Do to Your Health

46-The fracking cover-up: Defra censors key report 63 times in 13 pages in move described as 'comical' by campaigners

47-Former state health employees say they were silenced on drilling

48-Feds To Resume Oil And Gas Leases Despite Fracking Report That Raised "Grave Concerns"

49-Obama Opened Floodgates For Offshore Fracking

50-Revealed: How Big Oil Got Expedited Permitting for Fracking on Public Lands Into the Defense Bill

51-Fracking, Benzene, and Public Health: A California Nightmare

52-Has California’s Fracking Boom Already Gone Bust?

53-California aquifers contaminated with billions of gallons of fracking wastewater

54-Dimock, PA Lawsuit Trial-Bound as Study Links Fracking to Water Contamination in Neighboring County

55-Former state health employees say they were silenced on drilling

56-Radon levels increase in homes near Pennsylvania fracking sites: Study

57-We’re finding out what’s in fracking wastewater, and it ain’t pretty

58-In Dry California, Thirsty Oil and Big-Ag Industries Exempt from Water Regulations - Despite historic drought, Governor Jerry Brown has not put restrictions on oil drilling and fracking, but is focusing on urban usage of water

59-Citizens Can Sue Fracking Companies for Earthquake Damage, Says Oklahoma Supreme Court

60-Defra’s Un-Redacted Shale Gas Report Reveals Extent of Impacts on People Living Near Fracking Wells

61-Have You Read Rolling Stone's Coverage On High Rate of Stillbirths in Frack-Heavy Vernal, Utah?

62-Oh frack, now there's radiation in Pennsylvania's water

63-Yes, Those Earthquakes Are Caused by Fracking Boom, Studies Confirm - New work adds to scientific consensus that the earthquake surge in Texas and Oklahoma stem from wastewater injection wells.

64-Unstoppable California Gas Leak Being Called Worst Catastrophe Since BP Spill

65-5 Disturbing Things Porter Ranch Methane Leak and Flint Water Crisis Have in Common

66-Doctors Sound Alarm as State of Emergency Declared over CA Gas Leak: Leave Now

67-Emails: US Government Facilitated LNG Business Deals Before Terminals Got Required Federal Permits

68-Shock: Fracking Used to Inject Nuclear Waste Underground for Decades

69-The Facts About California’s Huge Natural Gas Leak: You may have heard it called the Aliso Canyon, California, Porter Ranch, or Los Angeles natural gas leak – but whatever the name, it’s one of the biggest public health and environmental disasters of our time.

70-The Flint Water Connection to Fracking

71-The Ongoing Environmental Disaster Currently Not Making The Headlines

72-Confirmed: California Aquifers Contaminated With Billions Of Gallons of Fracking Wastewater

73-Why the Scientific Case Against Fracking Keeps Getting Stronger - Anthony Ingraffea argues that fugitive methane emissions turn natural gas from a climate benefit into yet another strike against fossil fuels.

74-EPA Draft Says Oil & Gas Methane Emissions Are 27 Percent Higher than Earlier Estimates

75-Fracking Cases in Pennsylvania Expose the Human Cost of Drilling | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

76-Fracking Has Contaminated Drinking Water, EPA Now Concludes | InsideClimate News

77-Harvard Study: U.S. 'Likely Culprit' of Global Spike in Methane Emissions

78-Tomgram: Michael Klare, A Take-No-Prisoners World of Oil - Energy Wars of Attrition

79-As NASA releases climate “bombshell”, more questions raised over fracking’s climatic impact

80-Infographic: The True Cost of Fracking

81-Duke Study Finds A "Legacy of Radioactivity," Contamination from Thousands of Fracking Wastewater Spills

82-10 Years of Fracking: Its Impact on Our Water, Land and Climate

83-Duke Study Finds A "Legacy of Radioactivity," Contamination from Thousands of Fracking Wastewater Spills

84-New Report Shows ‘Natural Gas Increasingly Becoming an Unnecessary Bridge to Nowhere’

85-Porter Ranch CEO got a $3 million bonus after a massive natural gas leak

86-Confirmed: California Aquifers Contaminated With Billions Of Gallons of Fracking Wastewater

87-High Levels of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Found Near Fracking Wastewater Site

88-EPA Plans to Allow Unlimited Dumping of Fracking Wastewater in the Gulf of Mexico

89-Obama Admin Approved Over 1,500 Offshore Fracking Permits in Gulf of Mexico and Mainstream Media Has Ignored It

90-Top EPA official: 'D---heads' in White House resisted regulating fracking

91-The True Cost of Fracking

92-4 States Struggling to Manage Radioactive Fracking Waste

93-NASA Study Nails Fracking as Source of Massive Methane 'Hot Spot' - The 2,500-square mile plume is said to be the largest concentration of the potent greenhouse gas in the country

94-Whistleblower: EPA Official Covered Up Methane Leakage Problems Across US Natural Gas Industry - Inspector General called to investigate scientific fraud that wasted crucial years in slowing climate crisis while risking safety of workers, communities

95-North Carolina GOP Pushes Unprecedented Bill to Jail Anyone Who Discloses Fracking Chemicals

96-People Are Calling Natural Gas a ‘Bridge’ to a Sustainable Future—They’re Wrong: For America to reach full renewable energy, we need to re-focus our investments — and divest ourselves of some dangerous ideas about natural gas.

97-Massive Fracking Explosion in New Mexico, 36 Oil Tanks Catch Fire

98-Rural Pennsylvanians Say Fracking ‘Just Ruined Everything’ - Feeling abandoned by state regulators, hundreds endure contaminated well water they blame on fracking

99-Duke Study: Rivers Contaminated With Radium and Lead From Thousands of Fracking Wastewater Spills

100-New Federal Report Shows Dimock Water Was Unsafe to Drink After All

101-Whistleblower Says EPA Officials Covered Up Toxic Fracking Methane Emissions for Years

102-New Analysis Shows, There's No Safe Way to Transport Fossil Fuels

103-Rover Pipeline Sets Record for Environmental Violations

104-Fracking Giant Sues PA Resident For $5M For Speaking To Media About Contamination “Take a skunk and every household chemical, put it in a blender, puree it for five minutes and take a whiff. It burns the back of your throat, makes you gag, makes you want to puke. It’s all still bad. That’s why [the inspectors are] back up here.” — Dimock, Pa. resident Ray Kemble.

105-Far away from any witnesses, my small town is being poisoned by fracking waste

106-EPA Plans to Allow Unlimited Dumping of Fracking Wastewater in the Gulf of Mexico

107-Here's the Dirt That Industry Won't Tell You About 'Clean' Natural Gas

108-New NASA Study Solves Climate Mystery, Confirms Methane Spike Tied to Oil and Gas

109-Peter McCartney: It’s back! Massive subsidies are quietly reviving LNG

110-Water use for fracking has risen by up to 770 percent since 2011 The volume of wastewater new wells generate during their first year of production has also increased -- by up to 1,440 percent

111-Water Use in Fracking Soars — Exceeding Rise in Fossil Fuels Produced, Study Says

112-News study warns fracking is destroying US water supply "The water footprint from fracking is only set to go up, the study informed, which raises "concerns about its sustainability, particularly in arid or semi-arid regions in western states, or other areas where groundwater supplies are stressed.”

113-"No evidence" that fracking can be done without threatening human health: Report - A review by doctors and scientists of more than 1,700 studies concludes that the industry poses a threat to air, water, climate, and human health.

114-Booming LNG industry could be as bad for climate as coal, experts warn

115-Calling Natural Gas a ‘Bridge Fuel’ is Alarmingly Deceptive - There’s a reason the methane industry deliberately avoids acknowledging everything before combustion.

116-Fracking Creates A Glut Of Fossil Fuels & A Mountain Of Debt

117-Growing body of science links fracking to health hazards

118-More Signs That Natural Gas Can’t Compete With Renewables on Cost

119-Natural Gas Is Really A Bridge To Nowhere

120-Physicians call for halt to natural gas fracking projects

121-The Inevitable Death of Natural Gas as a ‘Bridge Fuel’

122-Total Ban on Fracking Urged by Health Experts: 1,500 Studies Showed 'Damning' Evidence of Threats to Public Health, Climate

123-David Suzuki: Fracked gas heats the planet, but supporters say it's a solution

124-Fracked Gas Well Blowout in Louisiana Likely to Burn for the Next Month

125-Fracking prompts global spike in atmospheric methane, study suggests

126-Long-Awaited EPA Study Says Fracking Pollutes Drinking Water

127-As Fracking Companies Face Bankruptcy, U.S. Regulators Enable Firms to Duck Cleanup Costs

128-'Dangerous, toxic and harmful': Fracking a public health risk, doctors association says

129-Already Burning for a Month, Fracked Gas Blowout in Louisiana Could Last Two More Months

130-Duke Study: Rivers Contaminated With Radium and Lead From Thousands of Fracking Wastewater Spills

131-Fracking Boom in U.S. and Canada Largely to Blame for Global Methane Spike, Study Finds

132-Fracking linked to groundwater contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming - Contaminants that likely came from fracking were found in an aquifer that supplies drinking water.

133-Fracking pioneer Chesapeake Energy is drowning in debt

134-Fracking prompts global spike in atmospheric methane, study suggests

135-Green Myths Canada’s LNG Sales Force Tells the World - No, methane’s no fix for global coal-fired energy. Here’s why.

136-Thirty years after faulty gas wells and unlined holding ponds began contaminating groundwater, residents of Pavillion, Wyoming, still can’t drink the water.

137-New Study Finds Far Greater Methane Threat from Fossil Fuel Industry - The gas plays a powerful role in driving up global temperatures

138-This So-Called Bridge Fuel 'Leads to Hell': Blowout at ExxonMobil Fracking Site Among Nation's Worst-Ever Methane Leaks

139-West Texas Fracking Boom Sputters as Apache Corp. Admits Firm Lost Billions, Cites Alpine High 'Challenges

140-U.S. Utilities Skip Natural Gas ‘Bridge’, Shift Directly to Renewables as Coal Plants Close

141-Duke Study Finds A "Legacy of Radioactivity," Contamination from Thousands of Fracking Wastewater Spills

142-A Decade Into the Fracking Boom, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia Haven’t Gained Much, a Study Says - Jobs, personal income and population growth in 22 gas-producing counties lagged behind, according to the Ohio River Valley Institute.

143-The world is addicted to natural gas. Fossil fuel companies are lobbying hard to keep it that way

144-As US LNG Expands In Europe, A Hidden Threat Grows