Home
High Risk Energy Sources

About This Collection

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan raised new concerns about the risk of another nuclear reactor disaster.  The explosion of the FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT gives our citizens cause to re-examine the risk assumed by the public. At this writing, the full extent of the damage to the plant, the community, and the environment is unknown - it will take years.

At the same time concerns over the high risks associated with extracting natural gas and as noted in a Financial Times article is "energy that comes from the same place as our drinking water. Extracting it had better be safe. The political fault lines over hydraulic fracturing (hence the term fracking) have been easy to predict for anyone paying attention to the controversies over climate change and genetically modified organisms. France’s national assembly voted to ban fracking while in the US its been full steam ahead in 32 states. These are high risk alternative energy sources. 

 

Curated by mokiethecat

The History of Fracking by Russell Gold

Fracking for oil and natural gas is transforming America's energy economy. The resulting low-priced natural gas has undercut nuclear, coal, and renewable power. This boom is spreading globally, with the U.S. poised to become the world's largest petroleum producer, potentially undermining OPEC and altering geopolitical power.

Russell Gold's book, *The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World*, details how Texas and Oklahoma innovators perfected hydraulic fracturing. In this video, Gold, a Wall Street Journal reporter, provides a brief history of fracking's origins and its industry evolution. Published in 2015, his book is available for order.

EarthSayer Russell Gold

Leave a comment on YouTube