Summary: The Economic Benefits Of Fracking

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Hydraulic fracturing has become controversial in today’s society due to popular belief that it harms the environment. It is an example of an invention that immediately alarms people because they’re not informed about its benefits. The US economy continues to perform poorly as we struggle to try to dig out of the worst economic downturn in eighty years. However, the economy can be revived with fracking because it provides a plethora of benefits for the economy of the United States. These benefits include, but are not limited to, a decline in unemployment rates, the creation of new jobs, and lower costs of natural gas. These benefits greatly impact the failing economy of the United States. Pennsylvania saw its shale gas boom create 29,000 new …show more content…
Fracking allows for an increase in the supply of natural gas, resulting in lower costs of this fossil fuel. In other words, as production increases, the lower the costs of natural gas will end up to be. The article “The Economic Benefits of Fracking” was published by the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization. They claim that as a result of fracking, natural gas prices have dropped “47 percent compared to what the price would have been prior to the fracking revolution in 2013” (Dews, 2015). According the the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gas bills have also decreased for energy consumers. “Gas bills have dropped $13 billion per year from 2007 to 2013 as a result of increased fracking, which adds up to $200 per year for gas-consuming households” (Dews, 2015). Although the average cost of shale gas production will vary from site to site, the average price ranges from $2 to $3 per thousand cubic feet of gas, about 50–66 percent cheaper than production from new conventional gas wells, and technological learning could drive costs down further. As more gas is obtained through fracking, the cost of the natural gas will be …show more content…
When drilling underground, some toxic chemicals may escape into the air and contaminate groundwaters around the area. Further negative implications include: “excessive water consumption, deterioration from overloading infrastructure, increased carbon footprint, VOC emissions, possibility of water contamination, and seismic effects of fracking” (Mehany & Guggemos, 2015). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), set a limit to the ozone level that should not exceed 75 parts per billion (ppb), however, in fracking areas in Wyoming, their ozone level was recorded to be 124 ppb which is more than twice the limit (Mehany & Guggemos, 2015). Furthermore, a study conducted by Montana State University found the negative health effects that the chemicals released from fracking had on their citizens. Their research found that “75% of the chemicals could affect the skin, eyes,and other sensory organs, and the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. Approximately 40–50% could affect the brain/nervous system, immune and cardiovascular systems, and the kidneys; 37% could affect the endocrine system; and 25% could cause cancer and mutations” (Hoffman, 2012). Some believe that the economic benefits should not even matter when fracking has so many negative impacts on the environment. However, when taking this into consideration, America’s
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