Energy policy in the USA: Independent thanks to fracking?

Fracking companies in the US are looking to the future with confidence. Because in times of the energy crisis, they contribute to security of supply. But scientists and activists warn of dangers for humans and the environment.

Snow as far as the eye can see. Fields powdered white, houses powdered white. It’s cold in the Denver, Colorado area. So inside, in the residential buildings, it likes to be warm. Energy costs have also increased latently in the USA. So far, however, there has been no talk of a supply problem.

Lucy Molina knows that too. She is a climate activist. In Denver and the surrounding area, she is committed to better air quality, better water quality. She fights almost every day against the fracking industry, which also gives the US many advantages. Because the USA is energy secure and also more independent compared to many other industrialized countries thanks to fracking.

“We have to fight it”

But Molina says the price is too high. Wearing a cap, coat and posters, she wanders through her neighborhood, a small town near Denver. Because she wants to enlighten her small town. Many in her neighborhood are Latinos like herself.

“I’m your neighbor here,” she calls out to two neighbors in Spanish. They stand in the front yard of their little house and shovel snow. Molina is standing on the curb in front of it, holding up her poster. It shows a montage of a lung and a tree – “Our air” is on the poster. “I have information in Spanish and English. Against air pollution. Can I post this here?” She ties the poster to the neighbors’ fence, who nod at her.

There are countless fracking sites in the Denver area, she says, countless refineries. Just a few minutes drive away. She wants to convince her neighbors that this is a problem: for the climate and for health. “If we want, we can take a leadership role here. Be an example for the rest of the world,” she hopes. “We have to fight against it.”

“Without fracking, the US would have an energy problem”

Against also means against Brian Cain. A good thirty minutes away, he is just starting a new drilling site. He is responsible for sustainability in his energy company. Surrounded by a concrete wall, he shows his staff the status of the work. Large red diesel trucks drive across the site. It’s soggy. A crane stands in the center of the site holding a large, thin steel drill. It’s one of many fracking sites in the region.

But here they wanted to do things differently, emphasizes Brian Cain. Not only a new drilling site is being created here. Significantly fewer CO2 emissions would also be produced here. Because they operated their generators, which are important for their work, with natural gas instead of diesel. In addition, some companies want to increasingly use electrically powered trucks in the future.

They expect to be needed for a long time, says Cain. Because without fracking, the USA would have a clear energy problem in these times of crisis. According to the state energy agency, more than 60 percent of the energy consumption in the USA is covered by oil and gas – partly also from fracking. Crude oil and natural gas will remain the most used energy sources in the USA until 2050. The USA produces a large part in its own country.

Fracking as a bridging technology is therefore elementary, says Cain – even in times of climate change: “There is no silver bullet in energy policy. There is no form of energy in our world that is completely perfect. We are an oil and gas company that is committed to climate change talks about the energy transition. And we want to provide reliable, sufficient energy that is produced as cleanly as possible.”

Experts: Harmful to humans and the environment

Fracking involves driving a drill deep into the earth and forcing a mixture of water, sand and chemicals through it. The layers of rock are broken up, causing cracks to form, which release gas that is mainly bound in the rock.

The advantage is that such important energy reserves are used. But one thing is also certain: climate-damaging methane escapes. According to experts, this is worse than CO2 – and not only harmful to the environment, but also to the people who live near such drilling sites.

As does Lucy Molina. She lives in a small house with her children and dogs. In the corner of her kitchen are large, empty water tanks. They need it because they can’t use the water from the tap, she says. She quickly becomes emotional when she talks about experiences, about illnesses in her environment. Although some substances produced by industry are classified as carcinogenic, there are no reliable long-term studies.

However, Molina is deeply convinced that it is the fracking and refineries in the area that are making her family and neighborhood sick: “In the block where my grandmother lived, most – our grandparents, family members – died from cancer or some other serious illness. And that has become quite normal. We’re just waiting for that to happen to us.”

Significantly higher pollutant values

But it’s not just about air or water quality, it’s also about how close the drilling sites are to housing developments and school buildings. A success that the activists are celebrating is the relatively new distance regulation. Previously, fracking sites could be set up 150 meters away. Now it is about 760 meters.

Detlev Helmig also explains how important that is. He has been living and working as a scientist in the USA for many years. He has specialized in this topic and is in contact with many activists. In their small measuring van near a settlement surrounded by drilling sites, they observe the situation in the region.

Together with his team of scientists, Helmig regularly measures the air quality: “Our data show that there are a number of pollutants in the environment that have significantly higher values.” He points to the Denver region on a monitor. Red and blue areas that document higher exposure to pollutants in the air. “This place has the most dynamic behavior. Pollution levels go up and down all the time.”

Golden future for the fracking industry

Presumably, more wells will be created in the future. Because an industry that has been in a downward trend for years now knows that glory days could lie ahead. Fracking, oil and gas companies can show right now, in times of energy crisis, that they are immensely important for the USA despite all concerns. And not only for security of supply, but also for the labor market.

This is also emphasized by Chris Wright, head of Liberty Energy, a market leader in the industry: “The USA has gone from being the world’s largest oil and gas importer to the second largest natural gas exporter and by far the largest oil producer in the world in the U.S. And fortunately, over the last year, we have been able to export large volumes of natural gas to Europe as well.”

Activist Molina still thinks that the price is too high. Because no matter how clean and green fracking companies presented themselves – they never would be.

You can see this and other reports in the Weltspiegel at 6.30 p.m. in the first.