US Energy Industry Lobbies to Stop Drilling Regulations
The oil-and-gas industry is preparing for a fight over the monitoring of a high-tech drilling mechanism that has put up huge new fields for drilling, but that environmentalists fear could infect ground water. On Thursday, a congressional subcommittee held a hearing on the practice, known as hydraulic fracturing, and two Democratic lawmakers stated they would launch legislation that would monitor it at the federal level for the first time. Environmental groups and members of Congress are also thrusting the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the aftermath of fracturing on drinking-water resources.
Hydraulic fracturing — known within the industry as “hydro-fracking,” or plainly “fracking” — includes the injection of millions of gallons of water and chemicals into oil or natural-gas wells at high pressure. The method cracks open rock formations thousands of feet underground, allowing trapped hydrocarbons to flow to the surface.
Fracking has been used from 1940s, but it has become far more prevalent in current years, as the industry has increasingly drilled in dense rock formations that require fracking to produce significant quantities of oil and gas. The industry estimates 60% to 80% of new wells need fracking to be profitable. Environmental groups are afraid that chemicals used in the method — which can involve benzene, hydrochloric acid and other potentially harmful substances — could infect drinking-water reservoirs on the surface or underground. Those concerns have risen as drilling has become prevalent in heavily populated areas such as Fort Worth, Texas; Shreveport, La.; and parts of Pennsylvania and New York.
Oil and gas producers say fracking is safe when executed correctly, and that state regulations already adequately protect water supplies. State and federal authorities have generally concluded fracking poses little threat, but no large-scale studies have been done, leaving industry and environmental groups to battle over anecdotal cases. Recently, Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette of Colorado and Maurice Hinchey of New York said they plan to introduce legislation to permit the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor fracking under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which would repeal a provision in a 2005 law that exempted it from EPA oversight.
In response, the industry has launched a multimillion-dollar lobbying and public-relations campaign to defend the practice. Last month, a coalition of industry groups unveiled a Web site dedicated to hydraulic fracturing, and the American Petroleum Institute held a conference call with reporters on the subject ahead of Thursday’s congressional hearing. The problem is especially sensitive for gas producers, because the industry has been attempting to visualize itself as more environmentally friendly. Burning natural gas releases less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than burning coal or oil.
In its lobbying, the industry is emphasizing the economic gains of drilling, and warning that raised regulation could lead to layoffs, lower state tax revenues and increase energy prices for consumers. Rising production and soft demand has driven gas prices down in current months to less than $4 per million British thermal units, down from more than $13 per million BTUs last July. The battle joins a list of battles waged by the energy industry in the newly Democrat-controlled Washington. The industry also is challenging proposals that would restrict drilling in environmentally sensitive areas, eliminate tax breaks on some drilling projects and restrict carbon emissions.
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I know we need fuel but unless we do something in changing our way of production we will be dependent on oil for ever. I know we can do what we did with cigarettes quit. Hydrogen battery alternative fuels will allow jobs ad our own industries. We will know how much money it will cost.Solar electric geothermal wind is enough.
Just get this country moving in jobs. Lets make sure we know our cost factors are know.We create knew industry.Let the oil companies clean up our leaky oil and gas tanks underground.
I totally disapprove of hydraulic fracturing – (hydro fracking) in Penna. or anyplace else. It is environmentally irresponsible for all concerned.