Policy Studies Energy and Environment

The green side of fracking

Author

Josiah Neeley
Director, Texas; Resident Senior Fellow, Energy

Key Points

While little doubt remains about the positive impacts of fracking in lowering energy costs and providing economic opportunity to regions of the United States rich in shale oil and gas, some question whether its environmental risks outweigh those benefits.

In fact, a review of the literature shows fracking contributed significantly to the 15 percent fall in carbon emissions from power generation between 2007 and 2013. While fracking processes could lead to some increase in methane emissions, the net impact is positive for the climate and for air quality overall.

Fracking itself poses little risk of groundwater or surface water contamination, but there is some risk of contamination from ancillary extraction activities. Nonetheless, EPA reviews have documented that actual cases of contamination are exceedingly rare, as are demonstrated examples of fracking processes having any appreciable impact on freshwater availability.


Press Release

Benefits of fracking outweigh the risks


Media Contact

For general and media inquiries and to book our experts, please contact: pr@rstreet.org

Introduction

Originally patented in 1949, hydraulic fracturing – known colloquially as “fracking” – is a process to recover oil and gas from shale rock. In the fracking process, water, sand and other materials are pumped deep below the surface, where the pressure from opens small fractures in the shale rock that allow the oil and gas within to be extracted more easily. While the fracking process has been in use for more than 75 years, it is only within the last 10 years that refinements in the process, combined with other technologies (such as horizontal drilling), have made it economical to recover significant quantities of oil and gas from shale.

As with many environmental issues, the debate over hydraulic fracturing is often framed as a conflict between what’s good for the economy and what’s good for the environment.

The economic case for fracking is strong. According to a recent analysis by the Brookings Institution, fracking has been responsible for annual declines in residential natural gas bills of $13 billion a year between 2007 and 2013, an average savings of $200 a year per household. Analysis by IHS Inc.’s Cambridge Energy Research Associates (IHS CERA) found that, in 2012, the fracking-led energy boom contributed $283 billion to U.S. gross domestic product, an increase of more than $1,200 in income per household.

But do these economic benefits necessitate sacrificing environmental quality? The answer, in brief, is no. Many of the claimed environmental harms from hydraulic fracturing do not stand up to scrutiny, while other concerns can be managed and limited by effective oversight. Fracking is not only an economic boon, but it is also a net positive for the environment.

Featured Publications