[piercehawkeye45]

I agree that drilling companies who frack should be subject to strict regulations and the chemical names should be released to the public. Hell, most of the frackers I've met agree with that. Gas and oil companies will push against it, but outside of them, there should be a wide consensus.

I hate wording it like this (the whole "it's there fault!" argument) but the problem I have with the 'ban fracking' crowd is that they push way to hard and most of their arguments are not grounded in reality. For example, it is impossible that fracking fluid at the shale level will seep into our groundwater aquifers. It is impossible. On the other hand, borehole breakouts (pipe failure) and surface spills can occur but this is more of a regulation issue instead of a fracking issue. There will always be a risk associated with those, but groundwater pollution can be largely reduced (like almost 0%) with strict regulation. Also, from what I have heard, big gas companies are usually good with their designs but some of the independent companies have a tendency to skip corners and that is where accidents occur. That is why most frackers I've encountered tend to support regulations. Yet, if people think there is a fundamental risk associated with fracking and not a regulation issue, they will immediately try to ban it.

I think this will eventually just turn into another "not in my backyard" situation. Not that I don't think it is a legitimate justification (it's always easier to tell other people to suck it up), but if we get rid of shale gas we go back to coal, which is worse in almost every aspect.