I had a dream about hydrofracking. The dream did not come totally out of the blue. I had stayed up too late talking about how Jewish summer camps in the Poconos and the Catskills are threatened by this destructive form of drilling for natural gas. But I was not aware of the depth of my own feelings.
In my dream I was at a banquet. Off to the side, a group of respectable, well-dressed men and women were standing and talking. Suddenly, as I watched, one man reached up and began groping the breasts of the woman standing in front of him. I was shocked and I didn't know what to do, but quietly I began to "tsk, tsk" in disapproval. After a moment, the people around me joined in. After a few moments of hesitation, I called out: "You shouldn't be doing that -- we can all see you!"
I bolted awake with the terrible feelings that accompany a nightmare. My heart was pounding and I felt frightened. I knew right away that the dream was about hydrofracking. The woman was the violated earth, and I was the powerless bystander, unable to protect her. I was devastated.
Hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, is only one of many ways that human beings violate the earth, but as with any one of these travesties, the closer you get and the more you know about it, the more awful it is. Hydrofracking is a kind of "unconventional" drilling for natural gas. In "conventional" drilling, a well is drilled through layers of impermeable rock into the reservoirs of gas below. In the past 10 years, as relatively accessible deposits of gas have been depleted, the energy industry has turned to gas trapped in small fissures of rock and in clay and sand. The Marcellus Shale, which underlies parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, is the largest gas-bearing shale formation in the United States. Hydrofracking, which must be used to access the gas in the Marcellus Shale, is more complex and more dangerous than conventional drilling. The gas is extracted by drilling a well one to two miles down, then the drill is turned to cut horizontal branches for up to a mile through the rock. Water, mixed with sand and toxic chemicals, is injected into the shale under pressure, causing an explosion that fractures the rock to release the gas.
Hydrofracking pollutes land, air and water. Multiple drill pads replace trees and farmland. Methane (the main component of natural gas) is released into the air during drilling and transport. The immediate effect of methane in the air is smog, and beyond the local effect, methane is a very potent greenhouse gas. About half of the millions of gallons of water used to frack the wells remains underground, untreated. Pipes and casings are supposed to contain it, but over time cement shrinks and metal corrodes. The other half of the water is stored in tanks or open pits that are vulnerable to leaks. This water is supposed to be treated, but few facilities are prepared to handle it.
During the day I was able to calmly discuss hydrofracking as one of many energy policy issues. But at night, in my dreams, feelings took over. I tried to deny the import of my dream. I joked about my eco-feminist dream. I was proud that my unconscious mind expressed itself in such enlightened metaphor. But it really wasn't funny. The dream was sending me a message.
Weeks passed, but I couldn't shake the feelings of dread provoked by the dream. Searching for some way to understand my dream I made a foray into Jewish ideas about dreaming. In "The History of Last Night's Dream," I learned from Rodger Kamenetz that the Talmud prescribes a ritual for a person troubled by a bad dream. It is hatavat chalom. The ritual is to share the dream with three friends. After the dreamer describes the dream, the friends say "you have seen a good dream."
On one level, this ritual is about reassuring the dreamer. Don't worry, it says, this nightmare will not come true. But on another level, this ritual hearkens back to a much earlier view of dreams as sources of revelation. Hatavat chalom transforms a private message into a public one. If the dream contains a revelation, a message from God, the community of the dreamer can hear it.
What was the revelation contained in my dream? In my dream I felt the pain of the earth. I also felt the shame of the perpetrator. After all, I use natural gas to cook my food. I use electricity generated by burning natural gas. In the dream I took the perspective of the bystander who felt embarrassed, but also compelled, to speak out. I felt relieved when the people around me joined in to call out the abuser.
By writing this post, I'm sharing my dream with you. You can help me turn it into a good dream by standing up against hydrofracking. Next time someone tells you that natural gas is cleaner than coal, or that we need natural gas to bolster our "energy independence," speak up and tell them that that natural gas is a fossil fuel that causes climate change. Instead of subsidizing hydrofracking, we need to invest in renewable energy. And you can do more than speak up. Stand up and join the movement against hydrofracking.
Dr. Mirele B. Goldsmith is a New York-based environmental psychologist and activist. She is the founder of Jews Against Hydrofracking.
Kyle Rabin: From the Fracking Front: 5 Noteworthy Narratives
When the mixture gets to the surface...the water is, apparently, separated from the gas in some way, then stored in ground pools until it is taken away to be purified..I have not yet found what they do with the sand unless it settles down into the well again, but the gas is placed in trucks and taken away.
There is, some concern about gas leaking into the ground water which flows along under the surface of the ground...and about the large amount of water being used for the process.
When I get past the names of these things and discover what they are about..my interest in geology causes me to forget to immediately be against them...
If they are done safely and do not create more threat of earthquakes I do not have major concerns about them...OTHER than wondering if we REALLY NEED to take ALL of the gas NOW..maybe its difficult to get at because we are supposed to take a hint and wait for awhile until we use it...give it time to work its own way up.
wait here is a book
http://www.amazon.com/Oil-Gas-Production-Nontechnical-Language/dp/1593700520/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331352750&sr=8-1
Educate yourself in science and engineering not feelings and ignorance
please cite sources of these "events" because i don't believe they happened unless you have proof
if THOSE WHO KNOW want those WHO DON'T KNOW
to take an interest...
maybe they need to find a better word than FRACKING...
I have skipped about forty articles with the word FRACKING in them because I anticipated a tea party and I am too agitated to keep up with tea party lingo.
Near as I can tell...
someone finds a pocket of natural gas in the ground somewhere..and realises that if they can get it out of the ground..gas prices will go down.
Often, cracks and crevices form naturally in rock, due to the pressure of underground water or gas flowing through them..
In some cases...especially when someone considers time to be of the essence...companies may choose to give mother nature a hand to MAKE the gas COME TO THEM instead of having it force its way to the surface naturally.
To do this, they bring in trucks filled with WATER (which nobody likes to waste) and sand and chemicals.
They pump the liquid mixture into the well which has been drilled down into the ground..
The water and sand mixture being pumped into the earth creates a pressure...the pressure pushes the water mixture into the fissures along the well, so that the water opening the fissures or veins a bit more..
like worm holes but in rock.
I'm disappointed by the personal attacking tone of some of the respondents. They should know about your important PhD dissertation re the history of protection of NYC's aquifers. It's important we all learn from the past. I can understand why you're having bad dreams about fracking.
What I don't understand is how anyone can claim fracking is safe when they don't know know all the chemicals being used and when the EPA's December study in Wyoming showed fracking chemicals entering aquifers.
Here's to clean air and water, healthy communities, and a thriving economy based on safe, sustainable energy sources.
Above all else, you sir, made deep ecological discoveries into, " a soul-sucking concrete jungle". I am only of the faith of the Native Americans, but you and I are soul mates. We are truly one.
You got it, with the "soul-sucking concrete jungle". If we were to form a pilgrimage of humans in flight to another planet, I would wish you onboard. Did you realize, cites and agriculture have hotter climates, and that the real, natural and physical body of Earth is her ecosystems, her wild and natural landscapes supported by wild and natural animals and plants, the alpha and omega of life itself.
Our concrete jungles and our living Earth needs warriors, just like you as you have the ability to see the coming and dying Earth. Concrete jungles are not only soul-sucking, they are as life giving and supporting as the surface of Mars. Dead planet. Bless to you, sir.
What do you think God would say about our work so far?
They have made their minds up and any science that indicates they are wrong must of course be wrong.
Their motto should be Politics before Science!
I'm not a geologist, but I know a coprolite from a chunk of granite and fracking reps aren't offering granite.
This is the problem with America, too many people sit around making baseless accusations that harm entire industries. Industries that are the backbone of what we have been able to achieve since the beginning of the industrial era. If you have some grand ideas that will remove us from fossil fuels this instant and are economically and technologically feasible then you can throw all the mud you want. If not, then sit on those useless hands and don't sensationalize and make claims against those that do have the ability to produce.
PROVE IT.
http://www.halliburton.com/public/projects/pubsdata/hydraulic_fracturing/fracturing_101.html
In addition, fracking plays into one of the strongest legal traditions this country has - mineral rights. The US Supreme Court and legal system consistently favor the landowner who wishes to drill over the neighbor who is concerned about the consequences. The driller needs to take reasonable precautions and is liable if an accident occurs. Beyond that he has a legal right to drill. This precedent is old and powerful in our legal system, and the right-leaning Supreme Court will never overturn it.
Finally, Obama endorses fracking. Fracking is perhaps the only position that Obama, Romney, Gingrich and Santorum agree on.
So, consensus science, political bipartisanship, and legal precedent. Fracking is here to stay - find a new cause guys, this one's cooked already.
Even Bush could not devastate the Earth in all the ways Obama has, including circumventing the will, spirit and intent of this nation's most vital law to save Earth and mankind's ecosystem services and functions that save and protect all life, including man's or the Endangered Species Act.
Obama has circumvented this vital law, repeatedly, from placing the American wolf on the chopping block to delegating the responsibilities of our national treasures and ecosystems to the fox in the hen house or Ken Salazar, a hooved locust Earth killer. Tragic and sad. Four more years of Obama is about four more years of the Reagan years. Hello, even Reagan was more ecologically astute than Obama, who only cares about the next election!
So you'll be voting Green Party for President then... good! Tell your friends.
I understand the need for zoning laws, if you wanted to exploit the mineral rights on your property then don't buy a house on Main St.
But if I buy 500 acres of land which is zone for industrial/commercial use and now the Town says no development of my land?
WTF, I would be one upset voter. This is serious money, life changing money which could pull a person from financially struggling to a happy retirement.
Thanks New York, I can have a nice government job with a pension and medical benefits for life?
.
Put in a resort community with a golf course and fishin' pond. Or even better, donate it to The Nature Conservancy.