A: “I think to some degree, it’s highly likely … One of these things that’s on the table right now is for fracturing natural gas, something that you have to do to all these new shale plays, and if you start raising prices on the cost to extract that out of the ground, one certain thing is that you’re going to see natural gas prices rise with that.”

Click HERE to view this Bloomberg News segment.

As reported by the Grand Junction Sentinel, the DeGette-Casey anti-fracking bill “drew the ire of the Mesa County Commission on Monday. The commission unanimously passed a two-page resolution in opposition to further regulation. The resolution also claims if Congress passes the bill, it will drive up energy costs and add to Washington bureaucracy.”

The commissioners noted that the bill’s chief authors in the U.S. House, Reps. Diana DeGette and Jared Polis, both Colorado Democrats, represent districts “that have limited or no energy production.”

With facts not on their side, fracking opponents continue to deploy scare tactics and hyperbole. But Mesa Co. Commissioner Craig Meis, who authored the county’s resolution, affirmed this:

“I guarantee you I can go into anybody’s household and find more dry chemicals than on any well pad. 99.5 percent of [frac fluid] is basically water and sand.”

The paper reported that Commissioner Meis “then handed out a list of common frac-fluid ingredients that showed many of the same ingredients can be found in dental cleaners, hair-care products, makeup and pool cleaners,” and that “no one spoke against the county resolution or in favor of the federal legislation.”

Rep. Cynthia Lumis (R-WY), a member of the Natural Resources Committee, may have said it best, in describing the efforts by some in Washington to effectively halt environmentally-safe production of clean-burning natural gas.

The Sublette Examiner quoted the freshman congresswoman, saying:

“This legislation is a classic example of Washington politicians searching for a problem to address their solution. It is time we put science above emotion on this issue.”

Titled “Power play: Fracturing plan wrong, indefensible,” the paper calls the renewed efforts by DeGette and other lawmakers to erect new and potentially insurmountable obstacles to the responsible development of clean-burning American natural gas “a solution in search of a problem.”

Like a host of other papers, The Oklahoman rightly points out that the true objective of the DeGette-Casey bill attacking hydraulic fracturing – contrary to how it’s been characterized by its authors – is to initiate an unprecedented EPA power grab over local oil and gas activities currently regulated (quite well) in the states. The paper writes: “The latest power grab is an attempt to switch regulation of hydraulic fracturing from the states to the Environmental Protection Agency.”

But thankfully, there are federal lawmakers who understand the facts and appreciate the critical role that hydraulic fracturing plays in delivering America’s energy future. The Oklahoman cites Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK), a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, who has said DeGette’s bill would be “disastrous for the industry.”

The paper closes with this:

“Fracturing has been around for 50 years. Boren said the evidence from using the technique thousands of times for half a century doesn’t indicate a problem with drinking water contamination. Legislation has been introduced in Congress to require companies to disclose the chemicals used in the process and allow the EPA to ensure compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. This is a solution in search of a problem.”

As gas prices continue to rise, up for the 48^th consecutive day, it’s difficult to understand why some in Congress are working to inhibit, impede and in some cases prohibit responsible, homegrown energy production – even as it continues to be among the most direct and effective ways to reduce our dependence on foreign nations, drive down costs for consumers and create millions of new jobs in the process.

Oklahomans have been producing natural gas safely and efficiently for decades. But Rep. DeGette’s legislation now threatens our energy security, and threatens the livelihoods of working-class families across the country, especially in Tulsa’s energy-rich region.

Today’s Bixby Bulletin highlights these very real economic threats:

“The proposed legislation would make drilling new oil and natural gas wells more difficult and more costly, limiting the number of wells drilled in Oklahoma and the amount of oil and natural gas the state produces. … Regulations to protect groundwater during oil and natural gas production are in place in Oklahoma through the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Hydraulic fracturing has been in use for more than 50 years and a 2004 study conducted by EPA found that the practice posed “no threat” to underground drinking water supplies.”

The paper also quotes Mike McDonald, chairman of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association (OIPA):“Hydraulic fracturing is a necessary part of Oklahoma’s crude oil and natural gas industry, and federal attempts to add new restrictions to the technological process will have devastating effects on the state’s economy.”

Energy-producing communities are not the only ones taking notice. Law360 reports that:

“Chris Tucker, a spokesman for the industry group Energy In Depth, said on Wednesday the legislation appears to be a bid to subject hydraulic fracturing to federal regulation – not just disclosure.”

The article also added that: “Industry officials have said that there have been no instances of injury or harm resulting from hydraulic fracturing.”

Opponents of hydraulic fracturing opponents continue to find themselves on the other side of the facts. Whether that eventually slows any of them down – that’s anyone’s guess.

The Business Council: Why Albany Should Start Paying Attention! Jennifer K. Levine writes that “development of the vast natural gas reserve in the Marcellus Shale is one of Upstate’s best hopes for economic recovery.” She also writes on the benefits of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling.

Wayne Independent: DEP Reviewing More WC Gas Drilling Requests. “Two more drill permit applications are now being reviewed by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)” in Wayne County, Pennsylvania.

Oil & Gas Journal: EIA Global Outlook Sees More use of Unconventional Fuel Sources. The US Energy Information Administration reported in its International Energy Outlook that unconventional sources including biofuels could provide nearly half of the growth in global liquid fuel supplies in the coming decades. “Unconventional gas production from both tight sand and shale formations could increase from 47% of the US total in 2006 to 56% in 2030,” the report continued. “There’s no question that the gas growth we see in the US from tight sands and shale depends on hydraulic fracturing. If that’s taken off the table, the impact would be profound,” Acting EIA Administrator Howard K. Gruenspecht said.

Wellsboro Gazette: Gas Could Fuel Hotel Boom. It’s getting harder and harder to find a hotel room in the gas producing areas of the Marcellus. As gas production activities grow, the need will become even greater. Fortuna Energy Inc. is expanding activities in the area, and its spokesperson says the company is having difficulties finding places for its workers to stay.

The Daily Review (Upstate, NY): Informational Meeting to be Held on Natural Gas Development in County. The Marcellus Shale Committee will hold a community information session from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3, in Troy, New York.

Albany Times-Union: Mine Marcellus to Boost Energy. In a letter to the editor, local citizen Jennifer Levine of Delmar writes: “The scare tactics employed by environmental groups…are based on isolated incidents of water-well contamination not definitively linked to hydraulic fracturing…Concerned New Yorkers should check out the U.S. Department of Energy’s publication, ‘Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States: A Primer (April 2009),’ to learn how gas is extracted from shale. The facts and science will put their minds at ease…Development of the Marcellus Shale will revitalize the upstate economy and help our nation in becoming energy independent.”

Context

In 2005, Congress passed (with the vote of then-Sen. Barack Obama) the Energy Policy Act, a key provision of which sought to clarify Congress’s historical intent on whether the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974 was ever designed to regulate hydraulic fracturing.

The answer was no, and in this case, history proved an effective guide: When SDWA was passed in 1974, hydraulic fracturing had already been in use for 25 years. Hydraulic fracturing was never considered for inclusion under SDWA jurisdiction at the time. The Act was amended in 1986, and then again in 1996. At no point in the process was the concept of SDWA regulation over fracturing ever considered a necessity – or even a possibility.

Subtext

Hydraulic fracturing is a commonly used, and increasingly critical, technology for finding and developing oil and gas resources trapped below rock that would otherwise be too deep, too hard and too expensive to access. The technique has been deployed more than a million times over the past 60 years, delivering to the American people more than 600 trillion cubic feet of American natural gas and seven billions barrels of American oil.

In 2008, a report issued by professors from Pennsylvania and New York suggested that the Marcellus Shale formation, a unit of sedimentary rock spread across much of the Appalachian Basin, could contain 516 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – enough to heat more than 60 million homes for 160 years. Without hydraulic fracturing, these resources cannot be feasibly or economically produced.

Politics

Those who oppose the responsible development of American energy have seized on hydraulic fracturing as a means of blocking reasonable access to, and production of, domestic energy resources. The centerpiece of their campaign appears to be focused on blaming hydraulic fracturing for everything from exploding houses in Ohio, to flammable water in Colorado, to hard water deposits in New York (each of these accusations, and others, are debunked here).

Despite these claims, hydraulic fracturing continues to be aggressively regulated by the states, and has compiled an unparalleled record of safety over the 60 years since its first commercial use.

Economic Impacts

More recently, legislation co-sponsored by Rep. Hinchey has sought to destroy this existing state-federal regulatory partnership in favor of an EPA-only approach. Were this and other restrictive regulatory measures to come to pass, a recent analysis showed it could result in the forced closure of more than half of America’s oil wells, a third of its gas wells, cost the federal government $4 billion in lost revenue, slash American oil production by 183,000 barrels per day, and natural gas by 245 billion cubic feet per year.

EPA on Record

In 1995, then-EPA administrator Carol Browner (currently the president’s energy and environment czar) wrote that that her agency saw “no evidence” that hydraulic fracturing “has resulted in any contamination or endangerment of underground sources of drinking water (USDW).”

“Moreover,” she added, “given the horizontal and vertical distance between the drinking water well and the closest gas production wells, the possibility of contamination or endangerment of USDWs in the area is extremely remote.”

In 2004, EPA issued a landmark report examining the question of safety as it relates to hydraulic fracturing, finding “the injection of hydraulic fracturing fluids” poses “minimal threat to USDWs.” In arriving at that conclusion, EPA stated it had “reviewed more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, other research, and public comments.”

States on Record

Recognizing that hydraulic fracturing is both a safe technology and a key driver of local economic development, states such as Alabama, Louisiana, North Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Texas have recently taken up or passed resolutions informing Congress and EPA that the current regulatory relationship is working well, and that efforts to disrupt it could produce serious and long-term consequences.

In New Mexico, former U.S. Energy Secretary and current Governor Bill Richardson introduced a plan in February aimed at easing unnecessary compliance burdens, recognizing that thousands of jobs and millions in potential revenue were tied to safe, responsible, state-regulated natural gas and oil production.

Statement from Lee Fuller, policy director for Energy In Depth

“Those familiar with the history surrounding the passage and amendment of the Safe Drinking Water Act understand what this measure was intended to do, and what it clearly was not. Unfortunately, instead of taking on the issue of responsible energy development candidly and on its merits, opponents of natural resource development have decided to target the essential tools needed to safely and efficiently bring this energy to market.”

WASHINGTON, DC – As their federal counterparts in Washington, D.C. look for new and creative ways to restrict the responsible use of a critical natural gas and oil extraction technique known as hydraulic fracturing, states with decades of experience in regulating the technology are not taking the effort lying down.

Earlier this week, the Louisiana House became the latest in a string of legislatures where resolutions affirming the chamber’s support for hydraulic fracturing – or opposition to Congress’s effort to disrupt the current partnership – were either formally filed or broadly approved. Many of these states have effectively regulated fracturing activities for more than a half century, and stand to lose the most – in jobs, revenue, royalties and energy output – should EPA be given regulatory authority over the proven technology. To learn more specifics about hydraulic fracturing technology, click here.

“If hydraulic fracturing were unsafe, unregulated, and largely unnecessary as a tool of producing American energy, Congress would have a good reason to step in, and states would have an even better one to step out,” said Lee Fuller, a spokesman for Energy In Depth, a new coalition of American oil and natural gas trade groups. “Clearly, that is not the case. And that’s why you’ve seen states from the Southeast to the Intermountain West stand up, shoulder-to-shoulder, and affirm their support for this safe, critical and increasingly valuable well stimulation technology”.

The latest effort out of Baton Rouge, La. was introduced by Rep. Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville, and calls on Congress to maintain a provision in existing federal law preserving Congress’s intent not to regulate hydraulic fracturing under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974, legislation designed to protect public water supplies. In 1974, hydraulic fracturing had already been in commercial use for 25 years. At no time during its deliberation, nor in subsequent debates on amendments to SDWA in 1986 and 1996, was the concept of regulating hydraulic fracturing under SDWA ever a consideration.

The reason? Hydraulic fracturing was then, and continues to be now, aggressively regulated by the states, compiling an impressive record of safety and performance over that time. More than 60 years after its first commercial use, not a single case of hydraulic fracturing-related contamination has been documented by the federal government. In fact, a landmark 2004 study conducted by EPA found that hydraulic fracturing posed “no threat” to underground drinking water supplies.

Because of that, other states – such as Alabama, North Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Texas – have taken up or passed resolutions similar to the one being considered in Louisiana. In New Mexico, former U.S. Energy Secretary and current Governor Bill Richardson introduced a plan in February aimed at easing unnecessary compliance burdens, recognizing that thousands of jobs and millions in potential revenue were tied to safe, responsible, state-regulated natural gas and oil production.

Those conclusions are supported in full by a recent set of studies known collectively as Project BRIEF (Bringing Real Information on Energy Forward), commissioned by the Energy in Depth coalition. In particular, BRIEF found that proposed changes to federal regulations, including those related to hydraulic fracturing, could result in:

• The forced closure of more than half of America’s oil wells, and a third of its gas wells
• $4 billion in lost revenue to the federal government; state treasuries would lose $785 million
• Domestic oil production slashed by 183,000 barrels per day; natural gas by 245 billion cubic feet per year