Getting Fracked

Before class, I had never heard of the website Fractracker.org. I had heard the word fracking used before and knew that it dealt with gas drilling, but I was unaware how dangerous and controversial the subject was. On the website many of the articles talk about the dangers fracking to do to water supply. Along with these articles, are those from politicians and governor Tom Corbett addresses their thoughts about fracking. One article about the county drilling fee addresses this new proposal and Corbett's thoughts about how this would create more money. "As the number of wells grows, so will the revenue", according to Corbett. He also adds that “this growing industry will also provide new career opportunities that will give our children a reason to stay here in Pennsylvania. We are going to do this safely and we’re going to do it right, because energy equals jobs.” He does not address the dangers or how they will go about doing this safely, however. The concern is just on the amount of money and supposed jobs fracking will create.
http://www.fractracker.org/?p=1045

In the below video we can see the affect fracking has had on many PA residents drinking water.
http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/09/13/n_fracking_pa.cnnmoney/
 
I was unable to find any videos from Tom Corbett, Obama, or other politicians addressing the issue of fracking, but I think just the articles that can be found show that fracking is often very important to them because of the concern with bringing in more money and jobs. The politicians and the media are going to do whatever they can to make fracking appear to be a good thing. As Noam Chomsky states, the media will chose to ignore certain facts and ideas, and amplify others in order to get the public to believe in what they believe in. The issue of fracking is no different. The media will focus on the ideas of jobs and money, and ignore the facts that fracking can be dangerous and affect drinking water.