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Article after article appears in the op-ed section attempting to promote Fracking as the solution to NYS’s problems. It’s touted as the solution to the energy, employment, farming and taxation problems. It’s even compared to putting a man on the moon. But the truth is that Fracking will not be the solution; it will create more problems. In fact Fracking IS the problem NYS faces.
As an energy source Natural Gas is equal or more harmful than coal when the entire output is calculated in terms of creating the Greenhouse effect. N.G. is referred to as a “transition” fuel, to be used only until it can be replaced by renewable energy sources; acknowledging they are the only ones that can allow us to avoid environmental disaster. However the huge amount of investment being made can only be justified if the plan is to exploit all of the N.G. possible out of the ground; which requires a longer term commitment to N.G. then anyone from Big Oil & Gas has acknowledged. The untold plan is to export the vast majority of Marcellus N.G. to world markets that will pay a much higher price than the current U.S. price; which borders on the unprofitable.
As an employment source Fracking has come up short of Big O & G financed studies by a factor of over 10 to 1. In Pennsylvania the “projected” 110,000 jobs actually turned out to be less than 10,000. Most of those few jobs went to professional roughnecks from out of the area. The few local jobs created were in low pay and/or short term service jobs. The Southern Tier lost high pay manufacturing, engineering and professional jobs when its industries left. Only high tech manufacturing such as renewable energy and bio-tech can replace the economic foundation this area needs to grow.
Fracking results in many negatives such as; destruction of vital infrastructure and increased taxes to mitigate the damage; lowering of property values due to any inability to obtain mortgages and/or homeowners insurance, coupled with higher taxes to fund the necessary police, fire and environmental emergency services; the dangers of school busses sharing the foggy spring and icy winter roads with thousands of truck loaded with toxic chemicals; the potential for contamination of the water and air by an industry that needed to be exempted from responsibility for environmental disaster; and many more dangers. All of this will make it impossible to attract any of the21st.century growth industries, we really need, into the area.
Fracking will certainly not be the “savior” of farms on the Marcellus. If working some area farms is not profitable enough now; what makes anyone think that a farmer will take his Fracking windfall and invest it in equipment or expansion of his none too profitable enterprise? More likely they will leave the area and abandon the property when the N.G. production falls off or an environmental disaster makes it a liability. Many of the leased so-called “farms” have been turned into Fracking LLC’s specifically to dodge future liability problems. Many small acreage coalitions members, who leased for less than their property and house are worth, might get ruined by Fracking’s environmental contamination, but the big landholders who leased for much more than the their acreage was even worth, are smiling and promoting Fracking like their Big O & G partners.
The few entities who stand to make virtually all of the money from Fracking are trying to convince the 90%+ of area residents who won’t make a penny, but will pay all the many costs of Fracking, that Fracking will benefit them a through slick, but inaccurate, multi-million dollar TV advertising campaign. The first line of most ads say; “There are risks in N.G. exploration, but….” and then go on to untruthfully hype the supposed benefits and safety. They don’t tell their target audience what those risks are. However in their annual report to stockholders Big O & G are required by law to list the risks.
“Natural gas and oil operations are subject to many risks, including well blowouts, cratering and explosions, pipe failures, fires, formations with abnormal pressures, uncontrollable flows of natural gas, oil, brine or well fluids and other environmental hazards and risks.”
The above is a verbatim quote of the first of several paragraphs from the risk section of the Chesapeake Oil & Gas Annual Report, which is available for verification by one and all at their website.
Shouldn’t the Fracking conglomerates be required to completely inform the public of the details about the risks, which the law requires them to tell everyone buying into their business, just as drug companies are required to do about the consequences resulting from their product, in their ads?
If Fracking TV ads began with just that opening risk paragraph, which is legally required to be the truth; how much of a chance would Big O & G have of influencing the NYS government or we, the people, who they represent, to allow Fracking anywhere in NYS?
