XPost: us.politics, ca.politics, ca.general   
   XPost: dc.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   Trading water for fuel is fracking crazy   
      
      
   It would be difficult to live without oil and gas. But it would be   
   impossible to live without water. Yet, in our mad rush to extract and   
   sell every drop of gas and oil as quickly as possible, we’re trading   
   precious water for fossil fuels.   
      
   A recent report, “Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Stress”, shows the   
   severity of the problem. Alberta and B.C. are among eight North American   
   regions examined in the study by Ceres, a U.S.-based nonprofit   
   advocating for sustainability leadership.   
      
   One of the most disturbing findings is that hydraulic fracturing, or   
   fracking, is using enormous amounts of water in areas that can scarcely   
   afford it. The report notes that close to half the oil and gas wells   
   recently fracked in the U.S. “are in regions with high or extremely high   
   water stress” and more than 55 per cent are in areas experiencing   
   drought. In Colorado and California, almost all wells – 97 and 96 per   
   cent, respectively – are in regions with high or extremely high water   
   stress, meaning more than 80 per cent of available surface and   
   groundwater has already been allocated for municipalities, industry and   
   agriculture. A quarter of Alberta wells are in areas with medium to high   
   water stress.   
      
   Drought and fracking have already caused some small communities in Texas   
   to run out of water altogether, and parts of California are headed for   
   the same fate. As we continue to extract and burn ever greater amounts   
   of oil, gas and coal, climate change is getting worse, which will likely   
   lead to more droughts in some areas and flooding in others. California’s   
   drought may be the worst in 500 years, according to B. Lynn Ingram, an   
   earth and planetary sciences professor at the University of California,   
   Berkeley. That’s causing a shortage of water for drinking and   
   agriculture, and for salmon and other fish that spawn in streams and   
   rivers. With no rain to scrub the air, pollution in the Los Angeles area   
   has returned to dangerous levels of decades past.   
      
   Because of lack of information from industry and inconsistencies in   
   water volume reporting, Ceres’ Western Canada data analysis “represents   
   a very small proportion of the overall activity taking place.”   
   Researchers determined, though, that Alberta fracking operations have   
   started using more “brackish/saline” groundwater instead of freshwater.   
   The report cautions that this practice needs more study “given the   
   potential for brackish water to be used in the future for drinking   
   water” and the fact that withdrawing salty groundwater “can also   
   adversely impact interconnected freshwater resources.”   
      
   Although B.C. fracking operations are now mainly in low water stress   
   regions, reduced precipitation and snowpack, low river levels and even   
   drought conditions in some areas – likely because of climate change –   
   raise concerns about the government’s plan to rapidly expand the   
   industry. The report cites a “lack of regulation around groundwater   
   withdrawals” and cumulative impacts on First Nations lands as issues   
   with current fracking.   
      
   Ceres’ study only looks at fracking impacts on freshwater supplies, and   
   offers recommendations to reduce those, including recycling water, using   
   brackish or wastewater, strengthening regulations and finding better   
   ways to dispose of fracking wastewater. But the drilling method comes   
   with other environmental problems, from groundwater contamination to   
   massive ecosystem and habitat disruption – even small earth tremors –   
   all done in the name of short-term gain.   
      
   It’s important to heed the conclusions and recommendations of this study   
   and others, but given the problems with fracking, and other forms of   
   extraction, we must find ways to control our insatiable fossil fuel   
   demand. That burning these – often wastefully – contributes to climate   
   change, and our methods of extraction exacerbate the problems, should   
   make us take a good look at how we’re treating this planet and   
   everything on it, including ourselves and generations to come. It’s a   
   reminder that we need to conserve energy in every way possible.   
      
   In the short term, we must realize that we have better ways to create   
   jobs and build the economy than holding an “everything must go” sale on   
   our precious resources. In the longer term, we must rethink our outdated   
   economic systems, which were devised for times when resources were   
   plentiful and infrastructure was scarce. Our highest priorities must be   
   the air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil that provides food and   
   the biodiversity that keeps us alive and healthy.   
      
   By David Suzuki with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior   
   Editor Ian Hanington   
      
      
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        “It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save   
   the environment.”    ― Ansel Adams   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)