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Should Fracking Be Banned?

| October 28, 2014 | 41 Comments
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Oil wells in Kern County, where much of California’s fracking has taken place. (Craig Miller/KQED)

Oil wells in Kern County, where much of California’s fracking has taken place. (Craig Miller/KQED)

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Do Now

Should fracking be banned? Why or why not?

Introduction

On Tuesday, November 4, 2014 three counties in California will decide by ballot whether or not to ban hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as “fracking.” It’s steeped in controversy, from the amount of water it uses to how and where that water–and added chemicals–are eventually disposed. In California, fracking is used mainly for the production of oil, but in other parts of the country it is used to mine natural gas.

Fracking is one part of the process that brings an oil or gas well into production; that is, to allow oil and gas to be released from rocks underground and brought to the surface. During fracking, water, along with sand and chemicals, is injected into a well that may extend hundreds or thousands of feet beneath the surface. Pumping this watery mixture into the ground at high pressure causes cracks, or fractures, in the rocks. The sand in the mixture works to hold the cracks open, allowing the oil or gas to escape. Then, the fluid returns to the surface, bringing with it the sought-after oil, often additional groundwater, and other materials, such as salts and heavy metals. Oil is separated from the “produced” water, then the water is injected back deep into the rocks in a disposal well.

Hydraulic fracturing is a way to extract oil and gas trapped underground for use in energy production. Proponents claim that it is a safe way to access these natural resources to help meet the energy needs of the U.S. and allay the costs associated with foreign oil.
Opponents think that we should be moving away from dependence on fossil fuels and instead put money and resources towards developing renewable energy sources. They are also worried about lasting effects of fracking, such as the use of massive amounts of freshwater in the process, possible groundwater contamination from wastewater disposal and other potential pollution.

What do you think? Should fracking be banned in California? In the United States? Why or why not?

Resource

KQED Newsroom video Three California Counties Vote on Fracking Bans this November

Three counties in California – Santa Barbara, Mendocino and San Benito – will all vote in one week whether or not to ban hydraulic fracturing.

To respond to the Do Now, you can comment below or tweet your response. Be sure to begin your tweet with @KQEDedspace and end it with #DoNowFracking

For more info on how to use Twitter, click here.

We encourage students to reply to other people’s tweets to foster more of a conversation. Also, if students tweet their personal opinions, ask them to support their ideas with links to interesting/credible articles online (adding a nice research component) or retweet other people’s ideas that they agree/disagree/find amusing. We also value student-produced media linked to their tweets. You can visit our video tutorials that showcase how to use several web-based production tools. Of course, do as you can… and any contribution is most welcomed.

More Resources

KQED interactive How Water and Oil Mix in California
Massive amounts of water are used in the production of oil. See how this water is used and what happens to it in this interactive.

KQED radio report With Drought, New Scrutiny Over Fracking’s Water Use
The drought is prompting extra focus on water use in California, including water used for hydraulic fracturing. Find out how this use might increase as oil companies tap into the Monterey Shale, which is estimated to be the largest oil resource in country.

KQED’s The Lowdown animated explainer What’s All The Fuss About Fracking in California?
This site from KQED’s news education project includes a few primers on hydraulic fracturing.

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Category: 6 -12 Science, Do Now, Do Now: Science, Science

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About the Author ()

Andrea is the Science Education Manager for KQED. She joined KQED in 2007 to coordinate education and outreach for the public television series Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures. Between working on Ocean Adventures and joining the QUEST team, she developed the educational resources for the 4-hour documentary Saving the Bay. Andrea graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Environmental Science and earned her M.A. in Teaching and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from the University of San Francisco. Before arriving at KQED, she taught, developed, and managed marine science and environmental education programs in Aspen, Catalina Island and the Bay Area.
  • Karen Feridun

    Yes, fracking should be banned.

  • http://www.fakewebsite.com PIERCE

    Although fracking should not be banned, I do think that innovation has to be made so that a more efficient and clean way of extracting fossil fuels can be developed. Until such an innovation is made, fracking is a good idea for domestic and small-scale drilling projects.

    You can research, but the economy of North Dakota has absolutely exploded with all of the natural gas fracking that has taken place. Fracking is a gift to these communities, and is a new frontier for American land owners over fossil fuel sources. This technology should certainly NOT be banned, but hopefully a better technology will take its place and make fracking obsolete.

    SECOND

  • James Brotherton

    With appropriate regulations and well construction standards, fracking can be and is done safely. Rigorous enforcement is the key; and, in cases of deliberate dumping of wastewater, people should go to jail. A ban is not the answer.

  • http://nunya.com Veronica N.

    I think fracking is ok.

  • Mason Gilbertson

    Fracking needs to be safer, but should not be banned becuase we need oil and this process can get us some.

  • Lexi B

    I dont think it should be banned but i do think it needs a more efficient safe way of doing. Fracking is not a bad thing because of the amounts of oil and natural gas we have gotten.

  • Lindsey Dobbs

    I don’t think it should be banned it is an important way to get oil and natural gas. They just need to figure out a way to make it safe I guess.

  • Jaylon Bean

    Even though i think fracking should not be banned, i still think that a new method of getting
    fossil fuels should be created. but until a new method is created, i think it is the best way to extract these fossil fuels such as oil, and natural gas.

  • Samoria

    yes I think fracking should be done. it is wasting water that other people and animals could be dranking

  • David Lundey

    #DoNow I do not think that the government has the liberty to let the fracking companies drill without the publics consent #AJHSHardee

  • kyla

    @KQED Yes fracking should be banned until they find a safer way to get the oil. The way they are doing the oil now is polluting water for the people. Also the grass is dying for animals.

  • Jason Park

    @KQEDdspace I think that fracking oil should be banned because we should save oil rather than using it up. Almost every machines on earth consumes oil. Plus, if we should be protecting out environment. This CEO of large oil industry only wants wealth and fame.

  • Julia Johnson

    @KQEDedspace I think that fracking should not be banned because it is a major part of the oil industry and our world greatly depends on oil for forms of transportation. It is also bringing money to the state of California which is good for the state.

  • Batman

    Although I find the fact the fracking is like a gift or new opportunities for a large amount energy for the economy, and a ban is pretty extreme in my and other’s opinion, I would have to go for the ban. We could get too focused on oil, and from what I know of, we are already largely dependent on oil as it is. Plus, the after effect of fracking is not fully know, and could possibly be very harmful to nature as well. A renewable energy source is best needed, and more focus should be on that oil.
    Akebalan

  • Kenyeiz

    I don’t think fracking should be banned. Because fracking gets us oil. That we need and is important to our country.

  • KJ

    I think that fracking should not be banned entirely because we depend on the oil to much. Instead fracking should be limited and obsereved so that we can find a better way to get the resources that we need.

  • Ziyah Minnifeild

    I think that it shouldn’t be banned because its helpful to some people.

  • Mason

    I personally do not agree with fracking, but I understand the need for it. It is a mildly good resource for getting oils and natural gases of which we need for a lot of things. At this point though fracking has the potential to ruin the environment permanently. The chemicals used to break the soil to make it easier to get the oil ,poisons drinking water sources. The once the process is down the chemicals used to break up the soil is left there forever and sealed in where it can spread through the soil. This water can not be cleaned ,even in a treatment plant it will stay contaminated and deadly forever. This wouldn’t be that bad if it weren’t for the neglagence of companies using the fracking fluid. It should not be used as a long term way of acquiring natural gasses. A longer term solution should be decided soon.

  • Isaac Regalado

    I think that fracking should not be banned entirely because we depend on the oil to much. Instead fracking should be limited and obsereved so that we can find a better way to get the resources that we need.

  • Josh Mohr

    We should use fracking because it makes california more money. mPeople are overreacting about overusing the water.

  • Christopher Thompson

    i think that fracking should not be banned because its is a major art of the oil industry but i also believe that they should be more careful with fracking and be more legit so it won’t harm the environment or the people

  • Jayla Jones

    i think fracking shouldnt be banned because it gives us oil and we need it

  • Terri Tu

    I think it should be banned, I’m okay with using oil, but it has to be limited, we are clearly using too much of it and it will cause pollution to the environment and to our water.

  • ohs student. s.l.

    i think fracking should be banned because it really polute water and we need water more than oil

  • Raven

    I think fracking should be monitored abd regulated until we find a more effective and safer method so it does not polute the populations water sources.

  • Libby Chuong

    I think personally think we should banned fracking even though it gave us oils we need for transportation because it waste water and damaged water.

  • QiSheng Zhu

    I don’t think we should ban fracking because we are in other countries trying to take their country just for their oil.

  • N.S.T.

    Fracking should be banned because we need to save water. If you ride in a car you should take the bus and save oil

  • imani

    I agree with the idea of fracking because I believe that the method might be beneficial to are society/ people also are Gov. Not all are supply of oil should be used, we also need oil in other ways are people use oil every day in different ways, I think that fracking will help California in a better way therefore fracking should NOT be banned.

  • Bailey P

    While the idea of fracking itself is efficient in theory, California just doesn’t have enough water during this drought for fracking to potentially poison the very little water they have. Besides, if we have oil in North Dakota, we can drill there until some solution for California’s water is found or the drought ends.

  • Libby Hume

    I think that there is no reason to ban fracking. Even though it is bad for our water, we will run out of oil before we run out of water. Oil is in high demand, and we have a limited supply of it. We have more than enough water for everyone. Fracking also brings in oil, and oil brings in money. California will lose money by banning fracking.

  • ingrid peacock

    Yes and no. yes because it is effecting farming lives in California but also no because they are finding more ways to get oil and also to keep their jobs.

  • Moni Fadamiro

    I think fracking shouldn’t be banned, its actually helpful to people with the oil though even it has the potential to pollute peoples water and killing grass

  • Mary K B.

    I believe that at the very least we need to put more regulations into place when it comes to fracking. I completely understand that it provides many jobs and our main source of fuel, but the truth is that the state of California is in such a mess right now with the drought. The last thing the people need is to have the little water remaining become polluted to the point where it is unusable. Lives are more important than jobs.

  • Jennifer Pantoja

    Hydraulic fracturing should be banned from these counties and should especially be from California. Fracking requires an excessive amount of fresh water which can no longer be recycled to be used for domestic use, agricultural purposes, industrial use, etc. California is in a severe drought and cannot sustain a continuous oil industry, it can also damage the already fragile environment that the California department of fish and wildlife try to protect. Being a California resident myself, (Monterey county which is next to San Benito) I see countless of wildlife being ran over because they are leaving forests in search of water. It is true that our country should produce (or extract) our own oil for our own industrial purposes; however, do we really have to trigger California? The much diverse geographical landscape who is home of many different biomes with hundreds of endangered species which is already threatened due to the tremendous lack of any rainfall. The United states is about 3.79 million sq miles of land, California shouldn’t be exploited for something CA has underground (which is one of the few things they have) when we don’t even have enough fresh water to reach it.

  • Hanna Bentley

    I think it should be banned using oil is good but there’s a time and limit for it and there’s also an issue for it it could cause pollution.

  • N Gordon

    No fracking should not be banned there just need to be strict regulations. Getting rid of the waste water is very important and people need to be more careful. there should also be a production limit on the oil produced by fracking to minimize the amount of water used.

  • Taylor C

    I don’t think it should be banned, I think we just need to slow down a little bit. What’s the point of banning it now and never using it again, even if it hasn’t run out yet? Better to slowly stop depending on it. Oil is important but it is not renewable, so we need to start envisioning a future without it.

  • Maya Flournoy

    Even though banning fracking would be a threat to the oil industry, I think that fracking should not be allowed because it’s wasting water that we all need.

  • Ben Martin

    http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2014/fracking-10-06-2014.html

    This article shows what happens when fracking is not regulated closely!

  • T.L.

    I think fracking shouldn’t be banned because it gives us oil and we need it

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