Why the ecologist fundamentalists hate fracking

You see, it appears that carbon dioxide emissions from energy demand is alarmingly falling in the US. The main cause for this healthy development is a new technique to extract gas called hydraulic fracturing or fracking, which is making cheaper the whole process of obtaining gas and is getting more used than carbon in electric power stations.

But ecologist lobbies in Spain dislike this fracking thing. They put pressure on companies and public administrations to stop them following the US lead. Antón Uriarte, a engineer geographer, blames this ecologist radicalism for Spain’s missing a great opportunity, and I quite happily agree with him.

“Ecologist fundamentalists abhor fracking because it effectively debunks the nonsense of an imminent exhaustion of natural resources,” Antón says. “So it is becoming as difficult to practice fracking here as raising pigs in Saudi Arabia. For instance, the People’s Party and the Basque Nationalist Party in Bizkaia have submitted a joint motion to ban it…”

The discussion about the environmental impact of fracking is an ongoing one, and it seems that all it is needed is a sophisticated regulation instead of a massive book of rules or a total prohibition. What we do know, though, is that it’s cheaper. Our welfare depends on finding more affordable production systems, too, because it frees capital and human workforce that can be used in other fields. This is how an economy improves. So this fracking debate really matters.

When ecologist groups and party politics forget that resources must be wisely spent so sectors in need can be helped–moreover amid this terrible and long crisis–, they forget about the general interest. Ecologist lobbies are basically wrong, and some politicians will fall for the populism card to please them and gain more votes. For the rest of us, it is time to speak up.