Trump's Energy Policy Woes: Fracking & The New Madrid Fault

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The feds just issued an earthshaking report about fracking

For the first time, the US Geological Survey has included "human-induced" earthquakes in its seismic hazard forecast. These man-made tremors are most often attributed to the injection wells in which oil and gas companies dispose of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." The USGS seismologists estimate that some 7 million people in the central and eastern United States now live in areas at risk of a damaging earthquake.

Other hubs of human-induced seismicity identified in the USGS report include the Dallas area, which has seen more than 180 earthquakes since 2008; central Arkansas; and the Raton Basin along the New Mexico-Colorado border. An additional area of natural earthquake activity visible on the map lies along the New Madrid fault west of Nashville.

The New Madrid Fault, unlike many shakers in rollin' California, has the potential to spread devastating large energy much, much farther...widening the damage zone much farther.

The hazard in the New Madrid Seismic Zone results mostly from the weak alluvium of the Mississippi Embayment. Due to the large quantity of sediments, the intensity of the shaking is very large and wide-spread. As seen you can see in the figure below, an earthquake in the NMSZ of the same magnitude as in California, would affect a much larger area. (Image links to original article) New Madrid Seismic Zone

Shows the difference between the affected area between California and the New Madrid Seismic Zone

We would be wise to substitute electric cars run off of a hybrid system off linear solar thermal fresnel & clean coal backup. Also, pumping toxic solvents near our last fresh water reserves under ground means our ag business will be threatened too. Diesel cars cut with biodiesels would also be wise for those requiring more hauling torque and just a different feel under the foot pedal.

Either way we need to roll back oil production, not increase it. Invest differently. What the hell do you care if your money comes from energy that doesn't foul your home town's water sources and shakes your house off its foundation?

Fracking is wrong, dumb and extremely foolish. BigOil needs to transfer it's assets over to the 21st Century and corner monopolies on other means of pushing cars around and creating energy. Then we could also reduce our military budget in the Middle East. Imagine how quickly our economy would recover then? Top it off, sell this solar steam turbine energy to Canada who has less sunshine than we do and voila! We're back to the 1950s economy. And this time without taking our pants down and crapping all over the environment to get it done...

Either we want our economy back or we don't. We can frack and destroy our fresh water with no way to clean up the solvents under ground...hence ruin our ag industry. And we can risk damaging cities as wide as the region in yellow in the map above, running what's left of our emergency funds into the red. Or we can make smart choices and prosper. I don't care if we pay the same fee for energy at the home meter or electric or diesel fueling station. It's all the same to me. But the environment sure cares.