Are you melting like the icebergs in Antarctica? Have you ever wondered why it is getting hotter and hotter? And how water is not as clear? There are many ways we are polluting our environment but one that cause my attention is Fracking. Fracking is a process of drilling deep down into earth and flush high-pressure water mixtures to crack shale rocks and extract the gas and oil. Anti-Fracking activist James Cromwell has always been outspoken and concerned about society and the impact of environmental pollution. Fracking for oil and gas across the United States is harming our communities by contaminating drinking water, polluting the air. and harming people’s health.
Environment Pollution
Fracking is affecting us immensely. The fracking waste dug into the ground is contaminated with chemicals and it is actually rising up to our ground water we drink. Toxic chemicals such as methanol. “The simplest alcohol, it can trigger permanent nerve damage and blindness in humans when consumed in sufficient quantities” (Gayathri, 2014). Not only that chemical was found, Diesel and high levels of salt was also found in our water by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). This agency mission is to protect human and environmental health. Humans and animals need air to breath and be alive. It’s shocking how the air we breathe that turns into oxygen for our bodies and cells to produce energy is actually polluted. One of the chemicals used for fracking is hydrocarbon which enters the atmosphere, from leaks, valves and pipes. Toxic air pollutants originate from direct emissions of hydrocarbons at the wells and all the heavy machinery and trucks. Silica is one of the main components used for fracking in large quantities. This component holds open the fractures created during the process. Inhaling this component can cause irreversible lung disease. “We found more endocrine-disrupting activity in the water close to drilling locations that had experienced spills than at control sites. This could raise the risk of reproductive, metabolic, neurological and other diseases, especially in children who are exposed to Endocrine Disrupted Chemicals” (Nigel, 2013). People around these wells are getting affected and soon there are going to be wells in every part of the United States if they keep digging.
James Cromwell
James Cromwell is an actor that received 7 Oscar nominations. The one and only Oscar that inspired him was his movie Babe. This movie made him an outspoken vegan and animal rights advocate due to him working with animals and trainers. He then became involved in PETA’s campaigns rescuing pigs. Actor James Cromwell said, “We are, all of us, engaged in a struggle, not to protect way of life, but to protect life itself.” This is how he started Anti-Fracking protest with Pramilla Malick. She is the founder of Protect Orange County, an organization leading to opposition of the fracked gas power plant and also ran for New York Senate in 2016. They Started a Protest in Wawayanda, New York in December 2015. Blocking traffic from a construction site of 650-megawatt plant. James Cromwell did this to let people in our communities know that the plant will promote natural gas fracking, and this will contribute to climate change and also harming people’s health near these wells. These plants are built by companies whose only interest is to create profit. They don’t care about people’s health or our planet. Therefore, James Cromwell wants people to be aware of the situation (Democracy Now, 2017).
Contribute
Fracking fluids contain toxic chemicals known to cause health impacts. Studies show that five out of 7 per cent of all oil and gas wells leak. As the wells age the more leaks can increase and more damage caused to our environment. People can contribute by helping put an end to fracking. By informing people about documented cases of water contamination near these fracking wells. Ground water is our only source of water we have to protect what our bodies are made out of water. This is affecting us, and we should take action and getting our government to act and find a resolution to this problem. Such as more studies need to be done to find a way of extraction oil from shale rocks without so many toxic chemicals or using all of our groundwater.
Conclusion
Fracking around the United States for oil and gas is harming our drinking water, air and harming people’s health. By bringing awareness to this situation like James Cromwell, an anti-fracking environmental activist, is doing to our society, we can contribute to helping stop our environmental problems and health problems in the future. Like Josh Billings once said, “silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute,” meaning,