Rolling Stone just dropped a bombshell — or so it claims in its article, “‘The Harms of Fracking’: New Report Details Increased Risks of Asthma, Birth Defects and Cancer.”
Highlighting what it deems an “authoritative study,” Rolling Stone concludes that fracking is “contaminating the air and water — and imperiling the health of millions of Americans.”
Dig into the details, though, and it becomes clear that the study is not scientific. There remains no proof that fracking is dangerous to the general population.
‘Authoritative’ Hogwash
Fracking is a drilling technique used to access energy reserves that are trapped deep underground in shale rock deposits. Developers drill into the shale formations and inject a mixture of water and sand at very high pressures. This infusion of liquid breaks up the rock deposits to free oil and natural gas for extraction.
This process typically takes three to five days. Once a well is fracked, it can produce fuel for years.
The Rolling Stone piece centers on a new report from two activist organizations, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Concerned Health Professionals of New York. These organizations didn’t conduct original field research but extrapolated data from existing studies to draw a hyperbolic conclusion.
According to Rolling Stone, the report’s central claim is that “residents living near an active [fracking] site breathe air laced with carcinogens,” which leads to an “increased risk of asthma, a decrease in infant health and worrisome effects on the development of a fetus.”
But the vast majority of studies used in this report examine fracking-related emissions out of context. They don’t look at how often, how long, or how much humans were actually exposed to these emissions.
And their report has not been subject to rigorous scientific review. It’s easy to see why. The preponderance of existing evidence directly contradicts the hysterical claims. The new “study” only reconfirms the adage: garbage in, garbage out.
