Ken Cohen at ExxonMobil has just published an article summarizing some of the basic things we know about the safety of “fracking” (hydraulic fracturing in drilling for oil and natural gas). The gist: It’s not a significant source of either air or water pollution, and its record, good from the start, has been improving consistently.
There will of course be those who write it off just because Cohen works for, and the article was published by, ExxonMobil. Sigh. Logical fallacies (genetic fallacy, argumentum ad hominem circumstantial) are a temptation for all of us, aren’t they? But in this case, Cohen’s reporting the results of an air pollution study by Drexel University scientists and of water production in fracking by John Veil for the Groundwater Protection Council.
Featured image courtesy of Clinton Steeds, Creative Commons, used by permission.
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