I am posting this diary specifically to the “Science Matters” and “SciTech” groups, for a specific reason. I must confess that I don’t know jack-diddley-doo about the science or scientific consensus around fracking, so I’d like to see a conversation from those who do know about it. Ideology and politics aside, what’s the scientific consensus on the matter? I understand that both “sides” have science studies they can cite to support their ideological view, but who has the actual scientific consensus from researchers in the field behind them?
To be clear, I’m not interested in cites of single “dueling studies”, or in anecdotes, or in who is paid by who and is/is not a shill for who, or in silly conspiracy theories of the “science is a corporate plot to hide The Truth and protect profits!!!” variety. Whether or not fracking is harmful is a scientific question, and it is answered by science, not by ideology or politics or who we like or don’t like. So if all you’re gonna do is cite some things from the University of Google that you like because they support your view, I’m not interested in seeing it. All I want to know is (1) how many peer-reviewed scientific studies have been published in the past few years on the safety and/or environmental effects of fracking, and (2) what did the majority of those studies conclude, and how big is that majority? I.e., what is the scientific consensus?
And since there seem to be a number of different scientific issues surrounding fracking, perhaps we should treat them separately, starting with: does fracking cause health/environmental damage through contamination of groundwater, and to what extent; does fracking cause earthquakes, and to what extent; and does fracking cause increased global warming, and to what extent.
I suppose what I really would like to see are cites to some metastudies, which avoids all the silly “he said/she said” dueling experts thingie and shows more clearly what the actual consensus view is.
(I made a similar request in a comment to a diary on Sunday afternoon, but being that it was a low-traffic time and a not very visible diary, I didn’t get very many responses--and even fewer HELPFUL responses. So I’m trying again today.)