As many of you know, the Stokes County Board of Commissioners has passed a resolution urging members of the North Carolina General Assembly to pass no legislation that would legalize fracking until it can be fully demonstrated that it is safe for the environment. This comes as the state legislature passed Senate Bill 820, a bill co-sponsored by Senator Don East. Representative Bryan Holloway was one of only two Republicans in the House to vote against the bill.

While I agree with the members of the Stokes County Board of Commissioners and Rep. Holloway on a wide range of issues related to economic freedom through low taxes, low government spending, and eliminating crippling government regulations, I believe that these individuals have made a misguided decision and have not thoroughly investigated fracking.

So what is fracking? Fracking is the shortened name of hydraulic fracturing and is a process of fracturing the shale rock layer in the ground so that the natural gas in the rock will come up once the well is in place. But instead of me telling you the process, here’s a video of exactly what happens.

As you can see, the groundwater is completely protected from the fracking process by the steel casing. 

The next charge against fracking that I found in the Winston Salem Journal and The Stokes News from citizens concerns the chemicals that are used during the process. Here’s a breakdown of what is used when fracturing the shale rock to get to the natural gas:

90% water

9.5% sand

So where’s the other 0.5% coming from? Sodium chloride (found in table salt), ethylene glycol (used in household cleaners), borate salts (some of you are wearing that right now because it’s used in cosmetics), sodium/potassium carbonate (used in laundry detergent), guar gum (sounds scary, right? It’s used in ice cream), and finally isopropanol (used in deodorant). None of these chemicals will harm you, but once again, the steel tubing on the well is impermeable, so nothing is going to seep into your groundwater. 

So what would cause citizens to be so concerned? 

Well the fear of fracking comes from a documentary titled Gasland. In this film, the director shows how one family in a fracking town in Colorado has the ability to ignite their water in their kitchen sink.

But here’s what the filmmaker didn’t tell you – the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission found that methane gas had already been present in the groundwater of that town for decades and it was not related to fracking at all. They found that in 1976, a report was released determining that the aquifer had “troublesome amounts of methane.” Another report in 1983 states that “the methane rich gas commonly occurs in ground water in the Denver Basin of southern Colorado” where this family lives. Their own water well was drilled into a naturally occurring pocket of methane.

If fracking does take place in North Carolina, it will most likely affect the areas of Lee, Harnett, and Chatham Counties. Stokes County would be much further down the road assuming it will even happen at all.

The legislation is Senate Bill 820 and was passed in both chambers of the General Assembly. There’s obviously been a lot of confusion as to what the bill would actually do.

Here’s what the bill will: it will begin building a regulatory process for fracking. This process will take at least a couple of years to complete in order to put the right environment in place for fracking to even begin. It will create a commission to study the process of fracking and to setup environmental and safety protections. And for fracking to even begin, the demand will have to dramatically rise for natural gas, and when it does, it will happen in Lee County first.

So with all this said, why should fracking take place in North Carolina? For one, it produces natural gas, which is cleaner than oil or gasoline, and it emits half as much carbon dioxide, less than one-third the nitrogen oxides, and 1 percent as much sulfur oxides as coal combustion.

It costs 1/3 less to fill up a car with natural gas than traditional gasoline.

The United States is abundant in natural gas. Just to put it into perspective, according to a professor of geosciences at Penn State, there’s more natural gas lying underneath West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York than Saudi Arabia’s entire energy reserves. If that’s not energy independence, I don’t know what is.

Here’s the best part, fracking will generate a tremendous boom to our economy. Just look at North Dakota, a state which now relies heavily on the natural gas industry. North Dakota has a 2% unemployment rate.

And it’s not just good for energy sector jobs. Because there are so little houses in North Dakota and because of their influx in population, there aren’t enough houses for the people, so many of them are living in their cars in Walmart parking lots or in camps while houses are being constructed. Think of all the construction jobs that are being created and think of how much real estate companies are being able to profit from North Dakota.

Truck drivers are making six figure salaries in North Dakota because they’re in such high demand. McDonald’s employees are making $15 an hour because it’s one of only a few restaurant chains in the state and the company is having a hard time finding staff.

In Ohio, fracking has contributed $4.9 billion to the state’s economy.

North Dakota has created hundreds of thousands of jobs just in the energy sector alone in the past five years.

This can happen in North Carolina, but instead we have elected officials that make comments like this one in the Winston-Salem Journal that “big oil comes and digs in Stokes County and takes what they can get, then pulls the drills out and says adios.” This is a scare tactic and is a play out of the Obama handbook of creating fear over “big oil.” Do any of you know what sector of the economy creates the most revenue for the federal government? BIG OIL!

And while we’re on the topic of big oil, why isn’t big environment ever mentioned? I don’t want big environment telling big oil that they can’t bring jobs to North Carolina and then have big oil leave and create jobs in another state like North Dakota.

Al Gore is set to become the first carbon billionaire because of the money he has profited from investing in green energy while scaring everyone into the theory of climate change.

Look at the Obama administration’s relationship with Solyndra. Solyndra, the green energy maker, contributed millions to the Obama campaign only to then receive a half a billion in tax money. The company then went bankrupt, but the Obama administration funneled more money into Solyndra so that the company wouldn’t fire employees before the 2010 Election. 1,100 employees didn’t realize that they would be fired once the election was over.

Now is fracking the best solution to put America on the road to energy independence. No. But it is a solution and it is a good solution.

We need to be energy independent to create jobs and to keep more money at home instead of funding countries that don’t like us and don’t share our ideals. If someone on the left argues with you over energy policy in the United States (like fracking or the Keystone Pipeline), ask them these questions – Do you hate gays? Do you think women should be able to drive a car? Do you think women should have the right to vote?

Of course you know their answer, so then ask them – Then why do you insist on sending our money to Middle Eastern countries that kill gay people and where women have absolutely no rights to speak of. Ask them these questions. Make them think. If they said they do hate gays and think women shouldn't vote or drive, ask them what the frack is their problem, only use another word besides frack. 


Sources:
Energy from Shale
Energy in Depth
USA Today - Unemployed? Go to North Dakota
Charleston Daily Mail - Fracking boom for Ohio real estate

Like most North Carolinians and hardcore UNC fans, I completed a bracket for the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and submitted it to a few contests. Prior to writing this blog, I noticed that I'm in third place out of 100 people in one. Looking closely at my contenders, I realized that I'm destined to win it, too. Why? Because I picked Kentucky to win it all, whereas my fellow contenders (typical UNC students) picked UNC. I had already realized that this year's UNC team does not qualify as a championship team. Wait! Before you get all hissy and leave my page forever, let me explain myself. 

In 2009, everyone knew that UNC was going to win the national championship title or at least make it to the final four. Why? Because UNC had Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green; a powerhouse team with a 34-4 record and consistently ranked in the top five throughout the 2008-09 season. 

Although we now have a powerhouse team with Tyler Zeller, John Henson, Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall, and Stilman White, there just hasn't been that spark the 2009 team had. UNC's record is 32-6. Considering that we lost to Florida State twice, Kentucky, and UNLV (of all places), it was pretty obvious to me that we would not make it to the championship. I did think that the Tar Heels would make it to the final four, but enduring multiple injuries doesn't help matters.

I'm not devoting this blog to argue the case for my bracket. Notice from the title that it's the "politics of bracketology" that I'm discussing. 

Barack Obama filled out his bracket like he typically does. Despite the fact that we have massive unemployment, a declining economy, a war, and millions on food stamps, Obama manages to find time to fill out a stupid bracket as if Americans really care who he's going to pick. Or so I thought. 

While sitting in my state and local government lecture, I overheard a group of girls discussing Obama's bracket. There's no question that UNC students adore Obama like a fat kid adores cake. Despite youth unemployment hovering around 16% and the student loans they will have to payoff after graduating, students at UNC still think Obama's the best thing since the pill. One of the girls said to the others that since Obama picked UNC to win the tournament, it must mean that "he really loves us." 

Give me a break. If the girl looked at Obama's bracket, she'll see that politics has everything to do with his picks. Obama's final four teams are UNC, Ohio State, Missouri, and Kentucky. With the exception of Kentucky (which he probably picked just because they're ranked number one in the nation), all the college teams that he picked are located in swing states for the 2012 Election! 

There's no doubt that Ohio has consistently been a swing state in modern presidential elections. Unlike a lot of states where determining which party it's going to support in the election is easy, Ohio changes party allegiances every election cycle. In 2008, Democrat; in 2004, Republican; in 2000, Republican; in 1996, Democrat. Ohio suffers from ADD when it comes to selecting the president. Whichever candidate wins Ohio traditionally wins the election. With 20 Electoral College votes up for grabs there, it's no wonder Obama wants the state like a little girl wants a pony.

Missouri is mildly important to the Obama campaign. Obama barely lost the state in 2008 to John McCain. In fact, he lost Missouri by only 3,632 votes. Obama eyes Missouri like a kleptomaniac eyes a jewelry store. And with 11 Electoral College votes there, it's no slim pickings. 

Now on to the big one; my beloved home state, North Carolina. The Tar Heel state had been dark red since the first election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. But then 2008 came along. Obama won North Carolina by only 14,000 votes. Where did his support come from? I'll argue that it was from two groups: African Americans and college students. 

African Americans in the state came out in droves, many registering to vote for the fist time in their lives, hoping to elect the first black president. For most voters, his platform didn't matter, all that mattered was his physical qualities and the promise of fulfilling Dr. King's dream of a colorblind society. 

95% of African Americans voted for Obama. How truly colorblind is our society when candidates are elected based solely off his/her skin color? This question is an entirely different topic altogether, but consider what Paul Waldman wrote in leftist American Prospect in 2008:

"If Obama were to become president, the symbolic value of him taking the oath of office - a multi-racial man who was partly raised overseas in a Muslim country - would provide such an extraordinary contrast with his predecessor, the very embodiment of what many see as the worst of America in all his ignorance, arrogance, and parochialism, that it would instantly suck the life out of a good portion of the anti-Americanism that has presented such an obstacle in recent years."

In order to win North Carolina again, Obama will have to appeal to his loyal 2008 supporters again. But why would they care this go around? They already elected the first black president. They did what they wanted to do. This is Obama's biggest worry. Obama losing the black vote in North Carolina is as scary as John Edwards getting a gray hair. 

North Carolina college students are Obama's next biggest supporters. Without them and their hard slave work (I mean volunteer campaign work), he probably would have lost the state to McCain. There's no doubt that college students love Obama as much as a teenage girl loves Twilight. One student proclaimed in her local newspaper after Obama won the 2008 Election:

"It's probably the most excited I've ever been in my entire life. I seriously think I had an emotional seizure or something. My whole body seized up. I couldn't breathe. It's like I really mattered...I picked the president! That was me!...I think I'm in love with America right now!" 

On Election Night, college students stormed their quads to celebrate. I remember a high school friend calling me to rub the election results in my face. While she was completely wasted and running around like a moron on her college campus, I was sitting in bed restless, worrying about the future of our country.

So what does Obama have to do to win North Carolina in 2012? Easy. He has to win over college students again. He has to establish his base of slaves to go door-to-door, make phone calls, and drive impoverished voters to the polls. 

And how will he do that? The same way he always has. Act cool and hip. Promise students a bunch of government programs that are supposed to save their lives. Promise them free health care, free college, and free contraception. Play basketball with their favorite college team (like he did in 2008). Or maybe Obama can pick the North Carolina university that gave him his biggest base of support and say that their basketball team is his favorite to win the NCAA tournament so that those students can then proclaim that he "must really like us." GENIUS! 

To conclude, my bracket isn't the typical bracket of a UNC student. I had enough basketball sense to realize that UNC was unfortunately not going to make it to the championship (this year), which they didn't (thanks Kansas). On the other hand, Obama's bracket is totally political. His bracket is set to prove that he's a common man that you'd want to have a beer with; all in an attempt to win your vote in 2012. More importantly, it's an attempt to win some college students back to his side; to continue working for him like little unpaid slaves. 

I applaud Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul for not making brackets and publicizing them to the entire world. They have more important things to do, like trying to save our country from total destruction. Obama on the other hand, has the time to fill out pointless basketball brackets instead of doing his job. 

Don't believe these gimmicks.