Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, injects high
pressure volumes of water, sand and chemicals into existing wells
to unlock natural gas and oil. The technique essentially
fractures the rock to get to the otherwise unreachable deposits.
Just a few years ago, climate projections for this century
looked quite apocalyptic…. Now, with the world already 1.2
degrees hotter, scientists believe that warming this century
will most likely fall between two or three degrees….A little
lower is possible, with much more concerted action; a little
higher, too, with slower action and bad climate luck. Those
numbers may sound abstract, but what they suggest is this:
Thanks to astonishing declines in the price of renewables, a
truly global political mobilization, a clearer picture of the
energy future and serious policy focus from world leaders, we
have cut expected warming almost in half in just five years.
A deep, disappointment of an oil well that has sat idle for
eight years near the Kern County border is finally getting some
attention following its owner’s bankruptcy in 2017. The
federal government is preparing to monitor and then plug the
12,000-foot Sevier Well, located a half-mile from the Carrizo
Plain National Monument in the prolific Midway-Sunset Oil
Field. …Protecting local groundwater is one goal, he said:
The well passes through several water tables, most of them
over-salty, others serviceable. … BLM Director Tracy
Stone-Manning told The Californian Thursday … there are 2.1
orphan petroleum wells across the country that risk polluting
potential drinking water and sometimes leak the potent
greenhouse gas methane.
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, injects high
pressure volumes of water, sand and chemicals into existing wells
to unlock natural gas and oil. The technique essentially
fractures the rock to get to the otherwise unreachable deposits.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at hydraulic
fracturing, or “fracking,” in California. Much of the information
in the article was presented at a conference hosted by the
Groundwater Resources Association of California.
It may surprise some people to know that California is the fourth
largest producer of crude oil in the United States and has a long
history of oil exploration. Since the 1860s, wells in Kern County
and Southern California have been tapped for more than 500,000
barrels of oil each day.
