DENVER—A new video series from the Western Energy Alliance is rife with inaccuracies and misleading claims about the impacts industrial fracking has on air, land, and water. The Center for Western Priorities investigated the statements in the WEA series and developed a two-minute response video that sets the record straight while providing insights into those claims.
“If we’re going to have an honest debate about fracking, then all sides have to admit the facts,” said CWP’s Trevor Kincaid. “There’s no denying that fracking is largely responsible for the energy boom our country is enjoying, but we need to be smart about how and where it’s used. Smart decisions can’t be made if the facts about the process and impacts on air quality and water safety is ignored or obscured.”
The oil and gas industry’s attempt to portray fracking as a non-invasive, safe, and conservation friendly operation fails to honestly address its risks. WEA and its partners have repeatedly ignored the truth of fracking’s impacts. Until all sides acknowledge the facts about fracking’s effect on air and water, a truly informed conversation is impossible.
CWP’s video, The Whole Truth, features footage of oil and gas industry representatives talking about fracking. Bubbles presenting the facts pop up to counter their claims. These facts include:
- The water produced by oil and gas contains carcinogens and radioactive materials.
- [Drilling] caused drop in mule deer population.
- Abandoned wells increase risk for polluting groundwater.
- Abandoned wells caused water contamination in: Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas.
Fracking is a consumptive process that uses tremendous amounts of water that, afterward, can’t be reused due to contamination. Another byproduct is the release of methane gas, which degrades air quality through the creation of smog and ozone. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper recently addressed the danger fracking poses to air quality in his newly proposed air regulations.