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German Government Agrees To Ban Fracking Indefinitely (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes: On Tuesday, the German coalition government agreed to ban fracking for shale gas indefinitely. Reuters reports: "Test drilling will be allowed but only with the permission of the respective state government, officials said. German industry is keen to keep the door open to fracking -- which involves blasting chemicals and water into rocks to release trapped gas -- arguing it could help lower energy costs, but opposition is strong in the country, where a powerful green lobby has warned about possible risks to drinking water. If the law is approved by parliament, Germany will follow France, which has banned fracking, whereas Britain allows it subject to strict environmental and safety guidelines. The two parties agreed on Tuesday to an indefinite ban, but the compromise legislation calls for the German parliament to reassess whether the decision is still valid in 2021, said Thomas Oppermann, who heads the SPD's parliamentary group. CDU officials confirmed that a compromise had been reached. Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND) criticized the proposal and said that by setting a date for a fresh look, the coalition had essentially agreed to allow fracking in five years." Last year, Bloomberg published an article making the case that the U.S. must consider the earthquake situation in Oklahoma a national security threat.
No nukes, no fracking. What are German Greens going to say when Ruhrkohle, or whatever it's being called now, starts digging the giant lignite pits it has long planned to fill in for the now totally hollowed-out national baseload?
The people opposed to gas drilling don't want an alternative. They want to stop the use of fossil fuels.
Isn't another difference in modern hydraulic fracturing that they drill the last portion of the well horizontally before pumping the fluid into it?
My understanding is that this particular innovation made modern fracking more economically viable. I assume it's because it allows you to access more of the gas trapped in the strata without having to drill as many holes. It is also my understanding that this is the reason the gas can potentially vent out of random, unpredictable places in the ground, not just out of the well hole itself.
Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.
To be honest, I have a very time to understand the pro-fracking movement in the US.
It seems that public in general in America is very, very short sighted.
There is actually a lot of evidence to support the premise that fracking not only pollutes the ground water, but also causes mild earth quakes.
Perhaps, in time, they will find out that it is safe. Who knows. But, right now there is a very reasonable doubt.
Here's the thing.
Oil is important. We all know that. We depend on it for our modern world. Sure, there are substitutions for nearly every application of oil, but they are expensive. Thus would of course cause harm to the economy should we run out or stop using it all together.
Water, on the other hand. Is not important. It is literally life and death. We cannot live without the stuff. No ifs ands or buts about it. If we pollute all of our drinking water, we will all die.
So, why the fuck would people take that chance? To save 15 or 20 bucks filling their gas tanks? It makes no sense.
I sometime wonder; maybe the whole plan IS to pollute the water. The oil companies are buying a lot of water rights and have been for a long time.
So, if they pollute all the water except for the areas in which they control, they would have a monopoly on fresh drinking water. Then we would have a water cartel in place of an oil cartel. Forever raising the price of water and literally holding the life of the population in their hands.
>You say that now, because you're likely employed in the first world. With a high paying job, in either a downtown area or suburb where the loss of thousands of blue collar workers jobs will have minimal impact. Right up until the downtown starts shutting down, and your company moves out. [lmgtfy.com]
The problem with your reasoning is this: you can't eat money, you can't drink it, you can't breath it. Without a healthy, viable environment - the economy is absolutely useless.
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