What Goes Around Comes Around

Hi Everyone,

In this country's insatiable appetite for energy, a large underground stash of oil has been found between Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. There is a whole lot of it, but the problem is that the oil is commingled with shale rock, which makes it extremely difficult to extract the oil. A process was developed that is able to separate the oil from the shale. That process is called hydraulic fracking. The process involves drilling a deep well and under high pressure, pumping in toxic chemicals that fracks the shale rock that then separates the oil and makes extracting it easy.

The biggest hurdle to more fracking, at least here in New York, is it that the "jury" is still out on whether the process is a safe one; especially for community and private wells, which could be contaminated by the highly toxic chemicals. The big oil companies say the process is safe, since the oil/shale is located far deeper than aquifers used for drinking water. Opponents state the opposite and say that the process can and does contaminate underground water sources. There are even videos on line where you can see people igniting the methane gas that comes out of their home faucets. Their homes are located near where fracking already takes place. But still the big oil companies say that it is safe. My opinion is that, if a pipe is placed very deeply in the ground, there is a high potential for the pipes to either crack or separate and which consequently releases the toxic chemicals into the ground and will contaminate the aquifers. Common sense tells me not to do it. The fracking process uses a ton of water that is mixed with the chemicals that are pumped onto the ground. Having to have a steady and large supply of water means that big water towers are erected at each fracking site. But, believe it or not, fracking in and of itself is not my main point in today's blog.

Today's blog is about ExxonMobil's CEO, Rex Tillerson. He is part of the big oil companies push and spread of the fracking process and repeatedly states that it is safe and not a problem to communities located near the sites. That is until that site is located near Tillerson's home in Bartonville, Texas. Tillerson has joined a lawsuit to stop the construction of a water tower, needed for the fracking process, near HIS home. Oh the irony here. The CEO pushes for fracking near other peoples homes, but when it comes to his own home, then he is against it. If it is so safe, why is he part of a lawsuit to stop the most important component of fracking??? His NIMBY attitude is highly questionable. If it is so safe, why is he fighting an integral part of it? Maybe because it isn't so safe? I think Tillerson speaks with forked tongue. As long as it isn't near his home, in his opinion, it is OK to frack. That speaks volumes and maybe the process should continue to be looked into. What does Tillerson know that everyone else doesn't know? Time will tell.

Til next week.

Peter