Heads we win, tails they lose

This is a news story I thought I'd never see:  The US is on the verge of becoming energy independent.  That outlook is gaining realistic credibility.  We're that close.  Every White House since Jimmah Cahtaa has put forth their plans to get us there, but their plans usually wound up as bird cage lining.  This is for real.


Now here's the rub....a lot of the new oil and natural gas we're producing is via a process called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" for short, and it's becoming more controversial by the day.  A chemical goop is injected into the ground under pressure, forcing oil and gas back out.   A LOT of oil and gas.  But there's also a lot of scary anecdotal evidence, everything from poisoned drinking water to minor earthquakes, that is giving rise to a bunch of activists opposed to fracking. 


The day may come when we can retire using nasty 'ol coal to produce our electricity (sorry Appalachia) and instead use much cleaner and cheaper natural gas.  This could help revitalize our industries, making them more competitive worldwide.  Think CLEAN AIR and JOBS!  And more than enough gasoline to power our cars and trucks and trains and buses.  We won't have to kiss up to those #$&^*&@ bastards in the Middle East any longer, either.  WooHoo!


Of course, the danger is we'll become complacent and go back to driving our land yachts that get 12 mpg, and put the development of new, clean, less polluting non-hydrocarbon fuels on the back burner.  Are we going to have the political will to impose enough taxes on oil and gas products in order to subsidize R&D looking for these better energy sources for the future?  (I doubt it.  Our politicians have never, in my lifetime at least,  been known for their stiff spines.)


So do we risk it?  Do we plow forward with more fricking fracking (too easy!) and hope we can overcome the pollution problems that come with it, and tell the rag hea....er....Sheiks....in the Middle East to kiss our obese American hineys, or say NO to fracking and just accept the status quo?


In my mind it's touchy, but I say go for it.  What say you?


S