By Claire Pielak and DJ Pihajlic

Fracking (aka Hydraulic fracturing) is the process of drilling into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas It's done by creating "veins" off a vertical well, then pumping the horizontal well full of water at high pressure causes fissures in the rock that branch off, releasing gas into the cracks created Been around for 65 years

Fracking allows access to difficult- to-reach resources of oil and gas It has boosted oil production and driven down gas prices Estimated to provide gas to the US and Canada for about 100 years can generate electricity with half the CO2 emissions of coal

Wastes 40,000 gallons of water per fracture Methane gas and toxic chemicals leak out and contaminate nearby groundwater Releases harmful chemicals into the atmosphere 75% of the chemicals could affect the skin, eyes, and other sensory organs

Even with the record-breaking drought in California, over 70 million gallons of water were used for fracking in the state California government has not included fracking in their water conservation efforts Causing an exponential increase of earthquakes in Oklahoma Ozone levels in Wyoming have well exceeded the healthy limit

By 2020, it will add $113 billion to federal and state government revenues and will create 3 million new jobs Reduce the amount we pay for foreign oil Earthquakes will become more frequent Montana is expected to experience a 310% increase in nitrogen oxide pollution (smog) amount of chemically tainted soil from drilling waste increased nearly 5,100 percent in one decade

University of Colorado has made a simple process to filter out chemicals and salts from fracking water. find out herefind out here Plasma Pulse Technology is an alternate method of extracting oil and gas with Vibrations- can save water& money Stricter regulations could be passed at the national level