UCSB – The Bottom Line, by Kyle Skinner
April 24, 2013
The Santa Barbara Public Library hosted an information session on hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as “fracking,” put on by Global Exchange on Friday, April 19.
The group brought along a panel of experts consisting of University of California, Santa Barbara Professor of Geography Catherine Gautier, Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) member Ben Price, Environmental Lawyer Nathan Alley, State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, SLO Environmental activist Genie Blackwell, and Global Exchange representative Shannon Biggs.
Hydraulic fracturing is the process in which gas and oil companies drill deep into the Earth’s crust to get to the bedrock that has gas or oil trapped underneath. The company sends down pressurized water down to break up the rock and to release the natural gas for a source of clean burning energy.
However, the Global Exchange is convinced that although the gas is clean burning, the processes of retrieving it is much more detrimental to the environment than burning fossil fuels.
Read the full article at : Fracking up the Environment: Organization Urges Public to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing in California