San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec

San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec




San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec

Protests continue on fracking

As the Department of Interior delays the drafting of “tougher” fracking regulations, anti- and pro-fracking movements argued in New York protests and in various documentaries about whether or not this controversial method of extracting gas and oil would ultimately help America or “frack it up.”
The term fracking refers to the method used to extract hard to reach oil by adding chemicals and water.

On one side, fracking supporters claim the method, which stimulates oil and gas from deep underground, has led to a historic boom in U.S. production, according to The Associated Press of pro-fracking independent film “FrackNation,”
The anti-fracking side seems more concerned with the environment. In New York, protesters have rallied against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s impending decision to allow 1,000 more fracking sites, according to Artists Against Fracking.
Marcellus Shale, a rock formation below New York, “may hold enough natural gas to supply the U.S. for two decades,” Pennsylvania State University geoscience professor Terry Engelder told Business Week.
The main concern with fracking, however, is the method involves high-pressure injections of water, chemicals and sand into rock formations to enable natural gas and oil to flow, according to thehill.com. Artists Against Fracking has said the drills are known to leak and sometimes even explode, releasing chemicals into sources of water.
The Department of Interior delayed regulations involving a plan requiring energy companies to disclose chemicals used in fracking.
According to an infographic by EarthJustice, an organization aiming to preserve the environment,
areas of active or proposed fracking in the U.S. include Southern California; West, south and central Texas; a large portion of North Dakota; most of New England; portions of both the Midwest and the southern states and Michigan.
The same graphic notes “fraccidents,” which are defined as reports of poisoned drinking water, polluted air, mysterious animal deaths, industrial disasters and explosions. According to the graphic, most of these reports have been in New England, Texas, and the Midwest; there are still no reported accidents in California.

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San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913
Protests continue on fracking