Americans To Obama--Frack Yeah!

All indications are that Hydraulic fracturing or fracking of shale oil may be the solution to reducing our dependence on foreign oil. A new Rasmussen report reports that Americans are following fracking developments closely, realize it's potential and want the government to move ahead with its implementation.

Shale oil discoveries are being made that can substantially increase onshore oil production. The Bakken oil field located in western North Dakota, northeast Montana, and Canada’s Saskatchewan Province is pumping 225,000 barrels of oil a day today that started at just 3,000 barrels per day in 2005, with estimates of a million barrels of oil production per day by 2020. A newer shale oil field, Eagle Ford in Texas, is one of about 20 new onshore oil fields so far that combined could increase the oil output of the United States by 25 percent within 10 years.

The Green River Formation located within Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah contains the equivalent of 6 trillion barrels of oil. The Department of Energy estimates that, of this 6 trillion, approximately 1.38 trillion barrels are potentially recoverable with today's technology That's equivalent to more than five times the conventional oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.

Those statistics, of course, assume that the U.S. government does not intervene in state regulation of hydraulic fracturing.  Hydraulic fracturing requires water, sand, and a small amount of chemicals to break up the shale deposits to allow oil or natural gas to flow through horizontal drilling. But, while the government gave hydraulic fracturing a clean bill of health in 2004 and there has never been a documented case of ground water contamination owing to hydraulic fracturing, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior and the Department of Energy – at the direction of President Obama – are all conducting studies on the issue.

Progressives are now trying to stop fracking by claiming it causes earthquakes. If that doesn't work, they will probably claim it causes male pattern baldness next.

According to a new Rasmussen poll most Americans not only are following the developments surrounding fracking but favor its use.

• 67% of American Adults very or somewhat closely follow the news about hydraulic fracturing.

•  By a 46% to 24% margin a plurality of American's believe the US has enough shale oil reserves to become the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas.

• By a 57% to 22% margin Americans favor the use of fracking to produce more oil and natural gas.

• 59% of Americans believe it is very or somewhat likely that the use of fracking will lower our dependance on foreign all.

Friday Rasmussen posted a related poll which stated that 70% of American voters believe we weren't doing enough to develop our own energy reserves.

Are you listening Mr. President?

If you want to learn more about fracking, allow me to suggest you go to Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney's FrackNation site, these folks are what you call..experts. But first watch this video.