By Clinton E. Crackel, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Nuclear Fuels Reprocessing Coalition

Clinton E. Crackel

May 24, 2023 - Although it has been known among many in the environmental science arena that the burning of natural gas and hydraulic fracturing have drastically exceeded the burning of coal as a principal source of greenhouse gas emissions, natural gas has played an intricate role in providing heat for businesses and homes. It has even been very instrumental in the generation of electricity to meet surges in demand for electricity. Fracking also provides for roughly 50% of our oil.

Halliburton Corporation is a major global player in the petroleum industry, and it oversees numerous fracking operations. With the knowledge that fracking operations could be dramatically curtailed or banned completely due to the use of various hazardous chemicals injected into the ground to free up shale oil and natural gas, the Halliburton Loophole was incorporated into the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to exempt fracking operations from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Such an action precluded the USEPA from enforcing safe drinking water standards in fracking operations.

No doubt, adhering to the environmental concerns of the Safe Drinking Water Act in areas where fracking operations are taking place detracts from the bottom line and can severely limit the magnitude of a fracking operation.

Granted, safe drinking water is not the only concern with fracking operations. Another issue that poses a threat to the affected communities is the careless disposal of highly radioactively contaminated oil well socks. The socks tend to be contaminated with principally radium-226, a high-energy gamma emitter.

Since very few waste disposal facilities are licensed for radioactive waste, the used socks could be found disposed of in public areas, river bottoms, unlicensed landfills, or wherever else the drilling companies can find to discard the socks. Don’t forget that proper hazardous waste disposal can also detract from the bottom line.

During the period of the implementation of the Haliburton Loophole in Congress, Dick Cheney was the Vice President under George W. Bush. Prior to the presidential election of 2000, Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton.

Several studies, including one released by NASA a few years ago, have proven methane (CH4) is a significant contributor to global warming. Natural gas is mostly methane, and CH4 traps 86 times as much heat as CO2. Even a very small leakage rate of CH4 can have a large climate change impact, enough to make burning coal, especially with the application of clean coal technology, much more advantageous to the atmosphere than burning natural gas.

Chemicals used in fracking include methanol, silicon dioxide, ethylene glycol, benzene, hydrochloric acid, naphthalene, glutaraldehyde, acetic acid, isopropyl alcohol, citric acid, propylene glycol, glycerol, sodium chloride, toluene, xylene, formaldehyde, lead, sodium hydroxide, ethylbenzene, hydrogen sulfide, ammonium persulphate, polyethylene glycol and calcium chloride. Even diesel fuel has been used.

Fracking has been banned in other countries, and several states and municipalities in America have banned or severely restricted fracking over the past several years.

Granted, the Biden Administration is determined to ban the total use of fossil fuels in the United States, and natural gas and shale oil are two types of fossil fuel. However, I seriously doubt the banning of fossil fuel has anything to do with global warming since Red China is building 31 gigawatts of new coal-fired power plants for generating electricity.

From my perspective, Joe Biden is the American voice of a global Marxist movement intent on destroying the American economy to grant Red China most favored nation status in terms of global industrial and manufacturing output. I further believe this movement is funded and promoted in part by the World Economic Forum, which is committed to instilling a single, global socialist government controlled by the world’s wealthy and powerful elite.

The infusion of massive amounts of private and public money into the green energy arena has allowed renewable energy sources such as solar and wind generation to come to the forefront even though both sources have been proven to be inefficient and can’t compete with the reliable electrical generating output of natural gas-fired, coal-fired, or nuclear power plants. Even though solar and wind generators are flaunted as clean energy sources in terms of reducing global warming, I’m convinced the primary emphasis on promoting the strict use of green energy in this county is to eradicate our industrial base and further devalue our currency to promote the Yuan as the preferred global currency. Russia might get a cut of this action too.

According to some energy experts, the amount of electricity required to fully charge an electric vehicle is comparable to the total electricity consumed by four air conditioners. If millions of EVs are on the road in place of gasoline-powered and diesel-powered vehicles, imagine how much of a strain will be imposed on already weakened grid systems that are incapable of providing sufficient electricity to meet the ever-growing demand for household and small business electricity consumption, let alone the baseload demand imposed by industry.

Now, to make matters worse, John Kerry, a key player in the global environmental community, has begun targeting farms and ranches for the pollutants they emit. Yet, while condemning our agricultural community and spreading his words of imminent doom on the disastrous effects of American agriculture on the global environment, Mr. Kerry still prefers to travel in a highly polluting jet aircraft. 

Finally, but certainly not least, since Marxism is opposed to the private ownership of businesses, and capitalism in general, Joe Biden’s willingness to negotiate a satisfactory agreement with the Republican-controlled House to resolve the pending federal debt crisis in a timely manner would not benefit his goals of reducing America to a third world status in favor of the global Marxist movement.