The unbelievable ignorance of the leftist professoriat -- 2

A few days ago, I wrote about professor Michael Klare and the misinformation that he was spreading with regard to shale oil and gas production. I set forth the text of my e-mail to him and said that I expected no response. Well professor Klare surprised me and did respond. Here is what he said:

Thanks for your message. I will look into this. But, as a professor, I have been following this closely, and in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Texas, where most shale gas extraction is now taking place, water is being used to extract the gas.

If industry was doing something different, I would report it, but they're not


Of course, even forgetting the condescension in e-mail, Klare is just plain wrong. He does not even respond to my point that hydrofracking is not the only method for extracting gas and oil from shale; he just says that hydrofracking is the only method that is being used. That claim is incorrect, so I wrote him again an told him so. Here is the e-mail I sent:

Thank you for your response.

You say: “If industry was doing something different, I would report it, but they're not.” Of course, that changes the point I was making in my original e-mail. In your article you said, in pertinent part, “Both energy sources, however, can only be extracted through a process known as hydraulic fracturing…” That was wrong when you wrote it and it remains incorrect. Hydrofracking in NOT the ONLY process to extract oil and gas from shale. I told you about the use of LPG which disproves your statement. You then claim that the LPG process is not being used, not that it cannot work.

Let me now address the question as to whether or not LPG is being employed in the field. The LPG process is relatively new. It was first employed commercially in Canada in 2009 by GasFrac, the company that developed the process. Well completion through the use of the LPG process is the only work that GasFrac does. The process is being adopted in shale fields across North America. In 2011, Gasfrac performed work valued at $161 million in the following fields: Canyon Sands, Wolfcamp, Navarro, Morrow, Eagle Ford, Niobarra and Williams Fork . For 2012, the estimate is $361 million worth of completion work. The current estimate for 2013 is north of half a billion dollars of work. The LPG process has been used in various Canadian fields and also in numerous places in the USA. The LPG process has been adopted by Husky Oil to complete its wells; it has been also used and approved by Chevron and many other companies. Just last week, it was adopted by the group seeking to drill in the Southern Tier of New York; that is because GasFrac is approved by the DEC in that state – unlike hydrofracking.

In summary, contrary to your claim, the LPG process is being used. Indeed, its use is expanding rather rapidly across the country. It has both major environmental benefits and economic benefits. These benefits will push acceptance of the LPG process ever higher in the next few years.

I have to say that since you “follow this closely”, I am surprised that you were unaware of such a major development in the field. At least, now you know.



Let's see if we hear anything further.