The debate over the safety of fracking reached a new, bizarre dimension last night, when the AP published a story with the headline, "Experts: Some fracking critics use bad science."
We've tried to remain objective on the subject of fracking, so it was hard not to be baffled by this: How do we know the "critics" aren't experts, and how do we know the "experts" aren't also using bad science?
At our wits end, we reached out to Dr. Steven Marshak at the University of Illinois to help lay out for us once and for all what we know and do not know about fracking.
Why Dr. Marshak? First, he's an expert in structural geology — a subject on which all energy industry scientists must know chapter and verse. He also writes geology textbooks.
We also wanted to speak with him precisely because he does not research the effects of fracking, and thus would not provoke the suspicion of you guys that he somehow had a hidden agenda or had been bought off by either side of the debate. Plus he's in Illinois, a state that relies on coal and nuclear for much of its energy.
To review, hydrofracking (which comes from the phrase "hydraulic fracturing") involves pumping water, sand and a viscous fluid down into shale rock to create fissures that release hydrocarbons, which are then pumped to the surface.
Here are the five settled facts on fracking:
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