On Why Fracking is Controversial

Fracking, as established by earlier articles, has been around commercially since at least the 1940's. So why the controversy? This article by the Independent online explains part of the issue:

http://www.iol.co.za/business/companies/shell-cites-history-to-allay-karoo-fears-1.1063899

As the article explains, while fracking has been around for some time, there are some major new developments with fracking. Recently, there's been a move toward using synthetic liquids formed from natural gas to help with the extraction of gas, and in some cases the synthetic liquids are gelled by using additional chemicals. This goes significantly beyond the early sorts of fracking.

The Case for Fracking

Here is a short presentation produced by the American Petroleum Institute (the main US trade association for the oil and natural gas industry) that presents a pretty compelling argument in favor of fracking. Of course given the source, this report is probably at least slightly biased, but I think it still provides plenty of great information. However, we must be sure to look at opposing viewpoints as well.

Anyway, here is the presentation, and - after the break - a summary of what I thought were the most pertinent points it contained.

API Report

Legal Issues With Fracking

Here's a short history of fracking, from the online Journal of Petroleum Technology:

Hydraulic Fracturing: History of an Enduring Technology.

It runs about sixteen pages.