Saturday, August 03, 2013

Fracking is safe - Obama

Obama's new Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz says fracking for natural gas is safe. At a breakfast hosted by Cristian Science Monitor he said “I still have not seen any evidence of fracking per se contaminating groundwater,”

Washington Examiner

Environmental activists argue that it pollutes groundwater. The Environmental Protection Agency has no found evidence despite three high-profile investigations. Most recently, it pulled out of an investigation in Pavillion, Wyoming.

Moniz said there had been a few cases where methane had seeped into groundwater due to faulty well design, but he added that that and other concerns related to fracking are “manageable.”

“Manageable means it still has to be managed,” he said, and that means the proper regulations. The administration is still working on those.

Asked if the abundance of natural gas was retarding investment in renewable energy resources, Moniz said the opposite was true. It was helping the US meet lower emissions targets, giving renewable technology a chance to catch up.

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