Blog Phase 3

Article 1 Natural Gas - Bridge to the Future

Chris Larson. (2010, July). Natural Gas-Bridge to the Future?. from Today's Science Database

      3/4/13

This article seemed to be in favor of natural gas despite some of the problems it brought to light.  The author seems to justify the risks associated with the process to get natural gas by say it could be a bridge to the future.  He does however bring up some concerns such as the reliance on shale formations (formations deep underground that hydraulic fracturing technology has let us attain natural gas from) that are there but may be to deep. The author does discuss some of the controversies associated with this drilling technology such as poisoned water tables, earthquakes, and many other possible unforeseen consequences. He ends it by trying to justify all the possible problems and controversies by saying that we can just use it as a transition fuel until we get to renewable energies.

Article 2 Hydrofracking

Hydrofracking. (2011,October 31). Retrieved 3/5/13 from Issues and Controversies Database

The article started off by the author explaining to you how fracking technologies have come about and what they are. It states the problems and dangers associated with this technology and simply that most of those dangers are that we just don't know yet. There is a section that explains how people are calling for federal oversight which as of right now is still lacking. People who support this technology say it is safe and good for the economy. People who oppose it say we still don't know what the long term affects could be so we shouldn't just jump on board and start drilling everywhere. In the end I think this article casts a dark shadow over fracking making it seem kind of scary.

The reason I chose these articles is because these are the two viewpoints I hear in every discussion I have had about this topic. People who oppose simply because of the possibility we might be overlooking something or it just hasn't happened yet. Then there are people who say it is completely  safe and nothing to worry about. They usually end up with the same conclusions, that even if it isn't the best for us and our planet, it can keep us less dependent on oil while we make the switch to alternatives.

I believe so far i have a pretty good grasp of this subject. Simply due to the fact that I have prior knowledge of this controversy. I haven't generated any new questions yet for this topic. I am however interested to see if the have found any new information out from continued research on fracking and horizontal drilling since I last researched it.