Fracking

Fracking is once more in the news and many people do not realize the significance this has on the economy. Two/thirds of all oil and gas in the US comes from fracking and 95% of all new wells are fracked. The US is currently producing both oil and gas at record rates leading the world in both. This has kept the price of gasoline below $4 and is of great political advantage to the Biden administration but fossil fuels are the biggest contributor to climate change and thus the press has been silent on this issue. When Trump was in office there were daily articles about the harmful effect of fossil fuels but that is no longer the case. In the long term the race is on to see if the negative effects of burning fossil fuels will outlast the supply but this is all unnecessary. If the country would just switch over to nuclear power both problems would be solved. The exaggerated fears of danger and long term storage have proven to be unwarranted so the only reason left for not going nuclear is politics. This can be seen in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act where $369 billion dollars was set aside to fight climate change, none of which was for nuclear development. A good portion of this money was given to companies in the wind and solar business and millions of that was sent back to the government in the form of campaign contributions. This is the same old story that happened with Solyndra, a company that manufactured parts for solar panels. The company was given $535 million dollars in 2009 and in 2011 filed for bankruptcy. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loan program lost $528 million to the solar panel company Solyndra after the company defaulted on a $535 million loan in 2011. To compound the error the government continued to give money to other solar companies who in turn gave campaign contributions. Later the government investigated and found no wrong doing.