Groundwater contamination problems appear unrelated to fracking itself, Gold explains. How many of these water problems were caused by drilling for gas is still an open question. Such problems have been the main reason why many environmentalists have lined up against fracking, trying to force stricter regulations, or to even ban it. Most vexing have been the strange happenings with water wells, which sometimes lost water pressure, or became suffused with enough natural gas to make tap water flammable, or occasionally even exploded. Given Gold's reporting, his parents likely knew far more about what to expect than most other families, many of whom were dismayed by the raucous din of drilling rigs, the tree clearing to make way for pipelines, the sheer scale of activities - and how little control they had over what happened on their own land. His parents own a farm in Pennsylvania, and they, like thousands of other families, signed a drilling lease. Gold has reported on the topic for the Wall Street Journal for more than a decade. Russell Gold's "The Boom," authoritative and fairly balanced, is a welcome guide - the best all-around book yet on fracking. (It's worth noting that despite the boom, the United States is still a net importer of natural gas, and the world's second-largest importer of oil, behind China.) It doesn't seem we can have our shale gas and export it, too - and have it remain cheap and abundant. But each gets hyped, and collectively they don't all add up. In all these aspirations there is a bit of truth. We could achieve the Holy Grail of energy independence.
We could use exports to punish Russia, while helping our allies in Europe and Asia. We could cut reliance on the Middle East. We could export the gas and oil to make more money, create jobs and boost the economy. Abundant natural gas could fuel our cars instead of oil, reindustrialize our nation with new steel and plastics factories, and replace coal, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. This boom of shale gas and shale oil has been hailed as a solution to nearly every energy issue.
oil and gas production to make a surprise turnaround. By Russell Gold (Simon & Schuster 366 pages $26)Īfter decades of decline and stagnation, hydraulic fracturing - or simply "fracking" - has enabled U.S.
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