Viewpoint: Challenging anti-fracking ‘scare tactics’ and disinformation

Credit: Campbell University
Credit: Campbell University

Ohio’s environmental groups are on a losing streak. They can’t seem to get anyone in the legislature to agree with their confused outlook, and they’ve increasingly turned to sophomoric misinformation to – literally – scare up a win.

In recent pages of the Canton Repository, a supposed scientist representing Save Ohio Parks led readers through an environmental extremist haunted house.

[T]he author avoids citing legitimate independent studies. When advocacy groups cite one another in a closed loop, opinion starts to masquerade as consensus.

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Fracking is highly regulated. The industry must comply with local, state and federal regulations that limit entry into the field. Some of the safety precautions in Ohio are stronger than those required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. 

The footprint for fracking is remarkably small. In fact, Net Zero America at Princeton University noted that zero-carbon energy will require immensely more land than it currently occupies.

As for the age-old scare tactic that fracking is going to poison your drinking water? The aquifer lies very near the surface. Fracking and injection wells are thousands of feet below it, separated by thick rock layers – not open conduits.

This is an excerpt. Read the original post here

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