

Gas Boom Projected to Last for Decades - geargrinder
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDYQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424127887323293704578330700203397128.html&ei=JskuUd3wM6-eiAf4mYCIBA&usg=AFQjCNGItQs3PoMCoi6lm_mncyoc_Rikbw&sig2=9G9fsXZOB8L8jQKcmMlgZg&bvm=bv.43148975,d.aGc&cad=rja

======
shard
Paywall-less Google link to article:
[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&#...</a>

------
vannevar
This is based on an enormous unproven assumption, which is that fracking can
be done without incurring catastrophic environmental costs. Coal mining and
cigarettes look economical too as long as you foist the real costs onto the
general population.

~~~
leifaffles
I found this short fracking discussion enlightening:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW_xJqPjE_I#>!

~~~
vannevar
Thanks for the link. The expert in the video says that he believes fracking is
safe, yet the facts he cites support the opposite conclusion.

According to the video, unlike ordinary natural gas drilling, fracking
involves pumping toxic chemicals (including benzene and formaldehyde) under
pressure into the ground. But like ordinary drilling, failures can and do
occur. The video cites faulty drilling casings and operator incompetence as
the causes of two incidents where water was contaminated with natural gas, and
a third incident where water was contaminated by trucks bringing benzene to
the drilling site. That the first two failures weren't unique to fracking and
that the third was not directly related to the drilling itself are not
rational reasons for discounting them in assessing the overall risks of
fracking.

Even if the expert is correct in saying that the risk of failure is the same
as ordinary drilling, it is the _consequence_ of failure that must be
considered. If the risk for a plumbing failure at a nuclear power plant were
the same as the risk of a leak in my garden hose, no reasonable person would
conclude that the plant was therefore no riskier than watering my lawn. Yet
that is essentially the logic applied by the video's 'expert'.

------
beedogs
In other news, the wanton, unregulated, for-profit destruction of our water
table and environment is projected to last for decades.

~~~
ori_b
If not here, then elsewhere. We're decades away from a green economy.

We would be decades away even if we decided to invest what was necessary to
get us there, and with the current levels of investment, I would be
unsurprised if we're still drilling for oil full blast when I die.

~~~
beedogs
Oh, it's definitely elsewhere as well. They're doing it on the outskirts of
Melbourne now, too. Australia is full of the stuff and it's only just now
beginning to be exploited.

------
RKoutnik
Can we not submit stories that have a paywall? This sounds like something I'd
be interested in, but not $21.99 interested.

~~~
cvg
Paywalls aren't ideal, but they often have the better content.

Easy way to hop over the WSJ paywall: search title on Google, open link in
incognito NYTimes paywall: Open link in incognito. After 10 articles, close
all incognito windows and try again.

------
snambi
Well, solar boom has been going on for billions of years and predicted to last
billions of years. And most of it is FREE or LOW MAINTENANCE. Oil guys should
think about it.

~~~
Danieru
I would not be so enthusiastic. It has also been well established that this
solar curse is the driving force behind global warming.

To be more fair natural gas is our perfect bridge fuel to a renewable future.
Coal powerplants can be replaced right _now_ instead of waiting for
unsubsidized competitive solar. Nuclear powerplants can be brought down for
maintain and improvements. Cheaper energy will drive manufacturing and save
families money on heating.

Problems exist to be solved, fracking's problems are no exception and the
reward is progress.

~~~
vannevar
_Problems exist to be solved, fracking's problems are no exception and the
reward is progress._

Yes, we just need to get the drilling industry to recognize there _is_ a
problem. Necessity is the mother of invention, and regulation is good way to
create necessity. Auto manufacturers fought clean air restrictions and fuel
efficiency requirements, but those regulations spurred them to innovate. I'm
sure the drillers would as well.

------
e12e

      > U.S. natural-gas production will accelerate over the next three decades, new research indicates
    

The graph seems to indicate a slowing rate of increase? Of course, it only
shows gas as a percentage of US production, and I guess oil and coal
production is projected to go down -- so the only way for the graph to be
negative was if gas was depleted sooner than oil and gas?

------
aooeeu
"Oil and gas production from fracked wells thus starts out high but suffers
ferocious decline rates—up to 90% in the first year alone."
[http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-end-of-
sh...](http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-end-of-shale-
bubble.html)

------
geargrinder
Sorry about the pay-wall link. Hard to tell which link I had. The free one was
shared by shard below. Maybe the mods can fix the link in the original.

------
0003
It looks like IRC Chapter 1, Subchapter I - Natural Resources is in for a re-
write as the USA no longer needs to encourage domestic production.

