Fracking
Channel: Adam Pierce
Date: 2024-03-08

"Fracking" is an original song written by me for my Environmental Chemistry class.
Thanks to Tessa Makai for production assistance!!!

Intro (C Am F G)
Fracking (or horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing) is an oil and natural gas extraction technique pioneered in the American West by George P. Mitchell[1] which increased productivity of oil rigs significantly, but at a cost: polluting water tables and earthquakes[2]… so the question becomes: is it worth it?

Chorus  
Fracking, such a hard way to go
about getting oil from the ground  
It blows. or does it suck? I don’t know.

Verse 1 (How Fracking Works)
Oil and gas are trapped in shale rocks
Fracking is cracking with hydraulic shocks
Then injected with sand and a chemical slurry[3]  
To get the goods flowing in a hurry.
Fracking doesn’t suck or blow
It lets the oil flow[4]

Chorus
Fracking, such a hard way to go
about getting oil from the ground
It flows, with what chemical? I don’t know.

Verse 2 (Chemistry of Fracking)
Methanol, Ethanol, and Biocides comprise
The acidic fracking slurry, which to no one's surprise
Is bad, for us, and the planet as well[2,5]
They oxidize readily and have a bad smell

Bridge (what does this mean for us?) (DGAmFG)
All the Proppants and Hydrocarbons
Might sound nasty, and they really are[5]
I’ve done the research so let me explain
Why hydraulic fracturing is such a pain

Verse 3 (Pollution and Controversy)
“Natural gas” or methane, has a greenhouse effect[4]
It oxidizes to ozone, a smoggy wreck[3,4]
Fracking takes place in drought-ridden lands[2,3]
And uses all the water, hazardous chemical sands![6]
Not to mention the earthquakes[7]

Chorus
Fracking, such a hard way to go
about getting oil from the ground
It blows, and also sucks Oh no! OH NO!!!

Fracking x4
C  F      C  ←- I end on a CFC! I should get extra points
And that’s the fracking truth[8]


Bibliography
(1)Gertner, J. George Mitchell, Father of Fracking. The Lives They Lived. https://www.nytimes.com/news/the-lives-they-lived/2013/12/21/george-mitchell/ (accessed 2024-03-07).

(2)Wollin, K.-M.; Damm, G.; Foth, H.; Freyberger, A.; Gebel, T.; Mangerich, A.; Gundert-Remy, U.; Partosch, F.; Röhl, C.; Schupp, T.; Hengstler, J. G. Critical Evaluation of Human Health Risks Due to Hydraulic Fracturing in Natural Gas and Petroleum Production. Arch Toxicol 2020, 94 (4), 967–1016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-020-02758-7.

(3)Denchak, M. Fracking 101. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/fracking-101 (accessed 2024-03-05).

(4)Baird, C.; Cann, M. Environmental Chemistry - ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY, 5th Edition.; W. H. Freeman and Company: New York, 2012.

(5)Boudet, H.; Clarke, C.; Bugden, D.; Maibach, E.; Roser-Renouf, C.; Leiserowitz, A. “Fracking” Controversy and Communication: Using National Survey Data to Understand Public Perceptions of Hydraulic Fracturing. Energy policy 2014, 65, 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.10.017.

(6)Pskowski, M.; Aldhous, P. Oil and Gas Companies Spill Millions of Gallons of Wastewater in Texas. The Texas Tribune. October 31, 2023. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/31/texas-oil-gas-fracking-wastewater-spills-railroad-commission/ (accessed 2024-02-19).

(7)Ryan Schultz; Virginia Stern; Mark Novakovic; Gail M Atkinson; Yu Jeffrey Gu. Hydraulic Fracturing and the Crooked Lake Sequences: Insights Gleaned from Regional Seismic Networks: Crooked Lake Earthquakes and Fracking. Geophysical research letters 2015, 42, 2750–2758. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015gl063455.

(8) Pierce, A.; “My Imagination”. 2024