Student opposes the use of hydraulic-fracturing

Read Gaelan Gatz’s opposing column in support of hydraulic-fracturing here.

 Recently, there has been much controversy surrounding the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, where President Obama has threatened to veto a bill passed by Congress that would approve the building of the pipeline.

 The Keystone XL Pipeline is an example of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, which is the process of injecting liquids in the ground at high pressures to extract natural gas and oil.

  While it seems like fracking could provide economic benefits for the country, its benefits are far outweighed by the negatives, specifically pollution.

 Environmental Health journal shows that fracking presents many health risks to people, including, “air impacts that could affect respiratory health due to increased levels of particulate matter, diesel exhaust, and or volatile organic chemicals.”

 Fracking not only endangers groundwater, but also could contaminate the air around it.

 Another study mentioned in the Inquisitr article is one written by the Natural Resources Defense Council that discovered toxic chemicals in the air that could cause serious health problems such as birth defects and cancer.

 Over one-quarter of Americans live within a one-mile radius of an oil or gas well.

 However, there have been examples of communities becoming aware of the potential dangers of living near a drilling site.

  According to an article in The New York Times called “Citing Health Risks…” the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, banned fracking in the state at the end of 2014 over concerns of health risks, and I am happy that government officials are starting to realize the consequences of building fracking sites near crowded cities where a lot more people are exposed to the chemicals, and I believe that more states should follow the lead of New York.

 In fact, Ohio has faced its fair share of problems concerning fracking. According to an article by The Huffington Post entitled “Ohio Earthquakes Linked to Fracking…” the drilling sites caused earthquakes to happen deep under the Appalachians, which is a cause to worry for the state.

 The best option for Ohio would be either for the state to issue stricter regulations on fracking or to take the same steps as New  York.