Grants to Improve Technology - Environmental Protection - Essay Example

? ACTION FOR E.P.A Process, development, and enforcement of regulations United s Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A) enforces regulations that are passed by Congress. Its main purpose is to protect the environment from various types of pollutions. It also plays a role on protection of human health through environmental conservations. It has been successful since the 1970s to help in conservation of the environment in the United Sates. It has invested a lot of resources such as laboratories for research use and other law enforcement agencies. ‘Fracking’ also known as hydraulic fracturing is a process of fracturing rock by injecting fluids into dikes or Cracks. Sands is mixed with water and various chemicals and injected at high pressure to create small fractures in a wellbore. This causes fluids containing petroleum, gas and other minerals to move to the well. The technique has been used in most countries with coal seam gas, tight oil, shale gas, and tight gas. Through hydraulic fracturing, countries with oil deposits have acquired maximum extractions from the wells leading to economic stability. The process can lead to extraction of rich hydrocarbons, which could be hard to extract in other ways. Due the internationals widespread success of fracking, most of the countries are adopting this method. This has led to the development of new rules and regulations. In the United States, the EPA ensures these laws are enforced. Additionally, the procedure has had its disadvantages. Most of these are environmental impacts such as contamination of ground water. During the fracking process, chemical are mixed with water and injected into dikes. These dikes may be connected or have underground channels that lead the chemicals to the water table hence causing contamination. It leads to depletion of fresh ground water. There is also presence of poisonous gases which are being released into the atmosphere during the process. Noise pollutions also caused by pumps providing the hydraulic pressure needed to inject water into the cracks. Most of these impacts have harmful effects to human health. Due to the negative impacts, the process is under international scrutiny. Laws and regulations have been put in place to regulate the level of pollution to the environment. Some countries have employed total bans to prevent fracking while others have set up regulations to help standardize the process. Drilling licenses in the United States of America are being issued on a contract with set rules and regulations that have to be followed during hydraulic fracturing. Grants to improve technology Financial institutions and the Congress should provide grants to help improve technology used in most of the E.P.A laboratories. This will indirectly help in conserving the environment since the laboratories are used to carry out tests. Financial institutions include banks, microfinance organizations and other global organizations such as the World Bank and European Union. Additionally, grants should also be issued to other research institutions provide funds to set up laboratories and pay researches. Extreme research will help scientists and environmentalists to come up with better ways of oil drilling. They may also come up with new ideas on the type of chemicals used leading to the use of environment friendly chemicals. The type of technology used in fracking may be improved because of increased research. Research will help in brainstorming and attainment of new ideas and innovations. Petroleum engineers discovered the fracking process in the 1940s. They there is the need to come up with other processes that are environmental friendly. To achieve grants, oil-drilling investors will have to establish project proposals on the type of projects and processes used. Signing of contracts will lead to issuing of string-attached grants. There should also be nationwide campaigns to cause awareness of the impacts of hydraulic fracturing and the need for grants to help come up with new techniques of drilling. Consequences (short and long term) of not taking action There are different consequences that come up due to lack of implementation of the set rules and regulations in a country leading to either long-term or short-term consequences. For example, in the United Sates, there are more than 500000 active oil wells that carry out the fracking process. In average, each well uses 8 million gallons of water per fracking. Remarkably, with all those wells enormous amount of water needed required. To sustain this supply, there will be reduced water intake by consumers. The tankers of pipes needed to transport the water also need energy that is obtained from the national grid. With the use of trucks, there is increased air pollution, which can only be felt in the end. The number of wells may is a great setback to implementation of some of the laws and regulation. This is because individual governments may not have the funds and resources to monitor all these wells. There are also issues of corruption and bribery, which lead to use of dangerous chemicals without the knowledge of the authorities. There is also release of volatile organic compounds into the air when the fracturing fluid is left in open pits to evaporate. This amounts to 50% of the used fluid. The remaining fluid finds its way to the water table and through production of poisonous gases such as methane it contaminates the fresh water. ACTION FOR SWES Partnerships The rate of air pollution has been in the increase especially due to the use of fuel from fossil fuels. These fuels are extracted from the earth’s crust through different methods. Drilling and mining are the most used techniques to obtain the fossil fuels. Hydraulic fracturing is part of the drilling process that involves exposure of poisonous gas. Partnerships should be done with schools to help in research. It is easier and cost efficient since the students help in gathering most of the research data (McMahon 22). For example, The University of Arizona has collaborated with many environmental conserving organizations in the country. These organizations include Water and Environmental Technology Centre (WET), Centre for Environmental Physics and Mineralogy (CEPM), Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL), Superfund Research Program, the University of Arizona, and Water Resources Research centre (WRRC) among others. As a counter measure, scientists have invested in research to come up with innovations that help in reduction of environmental pollutions. For example, the use of green energy has reduced the release of carbon dioxide from industries and motor vehicles. However, the increased supply of fuels containing hydrocarbons will not have any change on these new inventions. Scientists may come up with the use of solar panels to harvest green energy but for the industries that assemble these panels, they still use hydrocarbons and release them into the atmosphere. The Environmental Protection Agency has collaborated with many institutions to increase the knowledge on causes environmental pollution and their solutions. Partnerships should be formed to have a large base to handle the environmental issues. It should call for action from other members of the society methods of causing awareness. Schools, colleges, institutions, and universities should hold campaigns that will help save the environment. Use of electric cars has been in the increase, a step taken to reduce air pollution. Oil drilling companies should establish new ways of transporting water from sources to the oil wells. The use of trucks should be abolished since more than 50 trucks may transport the amount of water needed for one fracturing. They burn petrol leading to the release of carbon and other poisonous gases to the atmosphere. These companies should employ other methods such as pipelines to transport water to different locations. This will help reduce air pollution. Finally, scientists should come up with solutions to help in reduction of air pollution from natural sources such as release of methane gas from some lakes and craters. Calls for action Individual governments should also come up with a good bureaucratic system that will not give room for bribery and corruption. This will help reduce pollution since companies will use the right chemicals and disposure methods to reduce pollution. The move will prevent cases where fracturing fluid is left in the open to evaporate. All the oil-drilling companies irrespective of their rank will obey the rules and regulations passed. With continued research, scientists will come up with better chemical and also highlight other poisonous chemicals used in fracking. It is the government’s right to come up with new rules to ban the chemicals. To cause increased awareness, social political and legal agents have to work as one. Courses should be introduced in schools and institutions that provide knowledge on the causes and impacts of environmental pollution. Ways of conserving the environment should also be taught help students come up with solutions in the short run. The society and government agencies have to be involved to make sure that the set actions are achieved. All individuals have to take part in the conservation of the environment. However, since governments set the rules and regulations, they play the major part. In the modern world, there has been an influx of global organizations such as the United Nations. They have agencies that help them in environmental conservation through enforcement of regulations. Pollution of the environment is a global problem. This means that conservation cannot be carried out in only one part. The whole world has to be involved since the impacts are global (McMahon 12). Air pollution has led to the formation of acidic rains, which have been a disaster to crops and roofs leading to corrosion. It has also been a threat to human health leading to respiratory diseases and cancer of the lungs. Release of toxic fumes to the atmosphere has led to the depletion of the ozone layer leaving human beings open to harmful radiations from the sun. Works Cited McMahon, Robert. The Environmental Protection Agency: structuring motivation in a green bureaucracy : the conflict between regulatory style and cultural identity. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2006. Print. Read More