2012 GMPC Students-Multani, Forde, Eltayib, Kumar

What’s the Frack?The Pros and Cons of Fracking

BIG IDEAS, ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS,FOCUSING QUESTIONS, MAGNET STANDARDS

BIG IDEAS – Central Ideas• Fracking – Stewardship – Energy – Lifestyle Essential Questions • Are we responsible for the Earth?• Are we responsible for our society?• How can we make a difference?• How do you balance individuals’ rights with the public’s

good?

Why are we fracking now?• Energy Consumption. The U. S. is 5% of the

world’s population, uses 24% of the world’s resources, and produces 25% of the waste. (Source: The Story of Stuff).

• Bridge Energy Source• Jobs• $$$$

Who are the stakeholders?Conexo EnergyChesapeake Energy CompanyNYC ResidentsHomeowners MunicipalitiesVacationers

BIG IDEAS, ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS,FOCUSING QUESTIONS, MAGNET STANDARDS

Focusing Questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why• What is fracking? • How is it done? • Who are the stakeholders? • Where is fracking happening? • Why do the different stakeholders want/don’t want fracking?• What are the pros and cons? What are the

problems/benefits?• Who benefits pro, who benefits con?

Magnet Standards: Sustainability, Sense of Place, Inquiry, Careers, Technology, Activism

Words to Know and Use• Fracking, fracking fluid • Hydraulic fracturing• Stakeholder• Shale, shale bed, shale play• conundrum • Timely• Homeowner’s rights, mortgages• Toxic chemicals• EPA• Produced water• Aquifer

– Find other words about fracking to know and use.

Two editorialized views of the effects of fracking.

Anti-fracking

Pro-fracking

Drilling 7-10,000 feet down

Can we really know what’s going on 10,000 feet down? Have the energy companiesDone seismic studies? When accidents have occurred, the companies have admitted Fault, but claimed that didn’t have enough information. Who’s fault is that?

Where In the U. S. is Fracking?Shale Plays in U. S.

Source: Energy Information Administration

Why are we fracking now?

• Energy Consumption. The U. S. is 5% of the world’s population, uses 24% of the world’s resources, and produces 25% of the waste. (Source: The Story of Stuff).

• Bridge Energy Source• Jobs• $$$$

What Are the Problems with Fracking?

Industrialization of rural America.

“Waste pit at hydro-fracking drill site. Drilling slurry from the shale layer is radioactive due to the uranium of the layer and contains the chemicals used in the drilling.” J Henry Fair, 2011. www.industrialscars.com

Do we want to keep rural America rural?

Drill Sites with Nearby FarmEach drill site uses millions of gallons of

water and about 1000 trucks.

What can we do? What can you do in your classroom? What can staff, students and their families do?

• What more do we need to know?• Who should we contact?– Governor Cuomo– NYS Dept of Environment Conservation (DEC)– President Obama, Senators Schumer and

Gillibrand, U. S. Representatives• When, where, and how do we need to act?– Send letters, emails, make phone calls

Sources

• Slide 1 and 10 image, Joe Albertan. http://joealbertan.blogspot.com/2011/04/whole-fracking-truth.html. Accessed 1/20/12.

• Slide 4 Images – Pro-Fracking Drilling Picture: MidHudson Messenger. “Free Fracking documentary screens in Narrowsburg.”

“http://midhudson.info/news/?p=1163, 9/6/2009. Accessed 1/18/12.– Anti-Fracking Image: Gasland: The Movie. www.gaslandthemovie.com. Accessed 1/12/12

• Slide 6 image. Lambert, Jay. Investigation Currently Underway To Determine If Hydraulic “Fracking” Is Behind Explosion Of B.C. Earthquakes. The Innkeepers. 10/7/2011. Accessed. 1/12/12.

• Slide 7: Map of Fracking Plays – Kimball, Jay. “Congress Releases Report on Toxic Chemicals Used In Fracking.” 8020 Vision:

Analysis and Insight on Sustainable Business, Government, and Community, April 17, 2011. Accessed 1/18/12. http://bit.ly/wZ9Qba

• Slide 10 and 12: J Henry Fair 2011. “Drilling in the Catskill Mountains Marcellus Shale. www.industrialscars.com. Accessed 1/20/12.

• Image from Circle of Blue: Reporting the Global Water Crisis. “EPA and Halliburton Skirmish — Promises of Safer Fracking Fluid.” 11/20/2010. Accessed 1/18/12.

• Slide 11: Image from “EPA Fracking Waste Rules Debated,” propane.pro, 11/21/2011. Accessed 1/15/12