To what lengths are we willing to go to gain access to new fuels? In Comment this week, Elizabeth Kolbert writes about hydraulic fracturing—fracking, for short—the process by which shale gas is extracted from the earth:
In the 2005 energy bill, largely crafted by Vice-President Dick Cheney, fracking was explicitly exempted from federal review under the Safe Drinking Water Act. As a result of this dispensation, which has been dubbed the Halliburton Loophole, drilling companies are under no obligation to make public which chemicals they use. Likely candidates include such recognized or suspected carcinogens as benzene and formaldehyde…. A recent study by researchers at Duke University showed that methane frequently leaks into drinking water near active fracking sites, which probably explains why some homeowners have been able to set their tap water on fire.
Illustration by Tom Bachtell.