306 PART FouR • PolicymAking
Fracking
Also called hydraulic
fracturing, the injection of
a high-pressure solution of
water, sand, and chemicals
into hydrocarbon-bearing
rocks, releasing oil or
natural gas.in the form of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. This process involves injecting water, sand,
and chemicals under high pressure into hydrocarbon-bearing rocks, releasing oil or natural
gas. Expensive oil made fracking profitable.
Fracking has had an even greater impact on the supply of natural gas. A few years
ago, it seemed likely that the United States would need to import natural gas. By 2012,
however, so much natural gas was available domestically that the nation had run out of
storage space. Low natural gas prices plus new air-pollution regulations made coal uncom-
petitive as a source of electricity. As a result, plans for 168 new coal-based power plants
were abandoned, and about 100 existing plants were scheduled for retirement. Despite
concerns that fracking might harm drinking-water supplies or otherwise damage the envi-
ronment, use of the process continues to grow rapidly.The Politics of Expensive oil. The high price of gasoline is a political issue, and several
2012 presidential candidates claimed that, if elected, they would bring it down. Because
crude oil prices are set worldwide, the ability of the federal government to affect these
prices is very limited. Still, the government has taken some steps to encourage increased
supplies of gasoline.
In 2009, President Obama issued higher fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles. By
2016, the new requirement will be 39 miles per gallon for cars and 30 miles per gallon for
light trucks. Implemented in steps, the standards began to take effect with 2011 models.
The federal government also subsidizes the development of alternative fuels.
Subsidies to encourage the production of ethanol from corn are controversial. Critics
charge that ethanol production is an inefficient method of producing energy and makes
food more expensive. Subsidies for
renewable energy sources, such as
windmills and solar power panels,
have also attracted criticism. A prob-
lem with wind and especially solar
power has been high costs. Prices
have fallen rapidly, however, and use
of these technologies has risen quickly.
Still, they are a small fraction of the
nation’s power supply.Disasters in the Energy industry.
For some years, opening new areas
for oil and gas drilling has been a
major plank in the Republican Party
platform. Democrats have been more
reluctant, but in March 2010 President
Obama announced that major new
offshore tracts in the Atlantic would
be open to deep-sea drilling. Less than
one month later, the BP Deepwater
Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of
Mexico began. The spill, the largest in
American history, resulted in a tem-
porary moratorium on new offshore
drilling.Social Media
in Politics
If you check out “fracking”
on Twitter, you’ll find a
large number of tweets for
and against this gas and
oil production process.A Texas worker unloads a mixture of oil, sediment, and water
generated during hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Components of the mixture will
be separated and either recycled or eliminated. Why is fracking controversial?
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