![a fracked planet a fracked planet](https://www.ran.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ALBERT_TAR_SANDS_RAN_BOLSON-sized.jpg)
#A fracked planet drivers
So why didn't this happen between 1919 and the 1990s?Īnalyzing the failure of the private market to beef up anti-theft technologies in cars, the economist Simon Field wrote in 1993 that the problem was that drivers lacked strong incentives to take precautionary measures. All it took was a bit of research and development to make the technology more sophisticated, affordable, and widespread. They had a range of technologies at their disposal, including various kinds of engine immobilizers, the first of which was invented back in 1919. The crazy part of this story is that car companies and drivers had the power to stop the tsunami of vehicle thefts. By 1991, national car thefts hit a historic peak, with more than 1.7 million cars stolen, or about 659 thefts for every 100,000 people. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, cars were being stolen left and right. My truck's key technology consisted of a piece of jagged metal, which made it much easier to steal. Unlike them, vehicles like my 1999 Toyota Tacoma were not equipped with an electronic engine immobilizer, which requires a smart key with a special chip that sends an encrypted signal to start the car. But, more importantly, newer and fancier vehicles have much more sophisticated anti-theft technology. Part of this is a function of the fact that there are fewer of these vehicles on the road - and parked on the street. Notice that Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, BMW, or Range Rover are nowhere on this list. (H/t to Greg Morton for crunching the numbers and making this pretty map.) The San Francisco Bay Area has one of the highest rates of car theft of any major metro area in the nation. That includes the years I lived and parked my truck in rough parts of Brooklyn. Which is weird: It was never broken into or stolen in the 19 years before. I moved to this city almost exactly a year ago - and this is the third time the truck was either stolen or broken into since I arrived. Then, in the dead of night, in front of our apartment in San Francisco, poof, it was gone.
![a fracked planet a fracked planet](https://davidsuzuki.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/child-hopscotch-fracking-site.jpg)
I bought it used back when I was a teenager, and it was my primary mode of transportation for basically my entire adulthood.
![a fracked planet a fracked planet](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9c/a2/c0/9ca2c0a715d466dcdbd700571336989a.jpg)
It was a 1999 Toyota Tacoma that I owned for 20 years.
![a fracked planet a fracked planet](https://www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/02/Bringing_air_pollution_into_focus_pillars-800x600.jpg)
" Hydraulic Fracturing.My 1999 Toyota Tacoma was stolen, crashed, and stripped for parts.Ī couple weeks ago, my truck was stolen. " Pros and Cons of Fracking."Īmerican Petroleum Institute. " Does the Production of Oil and Gas from Shales Cause Earthquakes? If so, How Are the Earthquakes Related to These Operations?" " Salting the Earth: The Environmental Impact of Oil and Gas Wastewater Spills." National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. " Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources," Page ES-19. " Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources," Page ES-8.Įnvironmental Protection Agency. " Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources," Page ES-9.Įnvironmental Protection Agency. " Fracking 101."Įnvironmental Protection Agency. " Fracking Fumes: Air Pollution From Hydraulic Fracturing Threatens Public Health and Communities," Pages 4-5. " US to Sharply Cut Methane Pollution that Threatens the Climate and Public Health." " Methane Tracker Data Explorer."Įnvironmental Protection Agency. Leads Global Petroleum and Natural Gas Production With Record Growth in 2018."Įnergy Information Administration. accounts for more methane emissions than 164 countries combined. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the U.S. Some of this methane is inadvertently leaked through faulty equipment, or deliberately vented into the atmosphere between extractions. oil and gas industry emits 16.9 million metric tons of methane every year, according to the International Energy Agency. One of the main pollutants released in the fracking process is methane, a greenhouse gas that traps 25 times more heat than carbon dioxide. Moreover, due to the high pressures involved, fracking is also associated with increased seismic activity.Fracking uses large amounts of water, which can become contaminated and affect local groundwater.Fracking is also associated with other airborne hydrocarbons that can cause health and respiratory issues.Fracking has been blamed for leaking millions of tons of methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide.Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process that uses high-pressure fluid injections to shatter rock formations and extract natural gas.