The
above link leads to an interesting article in the 4/2/12 issue of The
Washington Times about fracking and how the latest methods of horizontal
drilling and hydraulic fracturing are being used in the United States to bring
about more bountiful supplies of oil and natural gas.
This
excerpt from the above article is an example of what is happening in many parts
of the United States:
Meanwhile,
though, fear campaigns are preventing some of Maryland’s poorest counties and
families from enjoying the economic benefits of Marcellus Shale development.
Baltimore’s Sage Policy Group calculated that fracking in Western Maryland
could reduce energy costs, create thousands of jobs and generate millions of
dollars annually in revenue for the state and Allegany and Garrett counties.
……………………………………………………………………..........................
People all across the country,
Democrats and Republicans have a deep respect for the environment as we all
should. With that concern in mind we
nevertheless have to do everything we can to safely draw from our treasures of
oil and get away from being dependent on unfriendly nations in the
Mideast. And if we’re concerned about
the environment on a worldwide level, it’s another reason why we should be the
ones providing the oil. The methods used
in the Third World Countries are not the careful methods we use here.
With the concerns these same
well-meaning people have about the environment they also put a lot of pressure
on the Administration, whichever one is in power, not to energetically bring up
the oil we have right here. What they
fail to consider is that it causes the government to be forever getting
embroiled in conflicts in the Mideast countries that we place our reliance on
to supply our oil needs. We’ve got to
find a happy medium to be as protective of the environment and as protective of
our guys that are sacrificing life and limb to protect our interest in these
countries. They shouldn’t have to be
there. With the abundance of oil and
natural gas we have right here we can be fully independent of any outside
sources and be energy independent. It’s
also one industry that can’t be outsourced.
Another important reason we should be
independent of other countries is that we have to stop leaving ourselves
vulnerable to profiteering by OPEC when it seems to suit their purposes. They raked us over the coals pretty good in
2008 and kept driving the price of their oil up till it began to destroy their
own market. They did the same thing in
the early seventies and there’s no reason to expect they won’t do it again.
We’re decades away from when
renewable sources of energy will have been developed to a point where it’s
affordable and with the prosperity domestic oil development could bring we’d
have the currency we need for research and development in that field.
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