Policy Brief Fracking Illinois - 1482 Words

POLICY BRIEF: FRACKING ILLINOIS Brandon Bordenkircher OVERVIEW When you woke up today chances are you turned on a light, used the stove, drove a car, or charged your cell phone. The energy used to power those devices was powered by hydrocarbons like natural gas or oil. Natural gas and oil are accessed by drilling, but drilling can t always reach all the potential hydrocarbons. There are many pockets full of oil and gas below the surface trapped in between shale rock that typical drilling can t access. What this means is there is a plethora of energy beneath our nation just waiting to be tapped. Enter, fracking. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process used to excavate oil and gas trapped in shale rock.†¦show more content†¦The Illinois legislature was unable to approve the rules governing fracking in a timely manner. Fracking advocates have complained that the state s delay in issuing fracking permits was tantamount to an illegal land grab. Based on the idea that regulation of a property s use has gone too far, depriving the owner of value or utility. Fracking Law was eventually passed in May 2013 and signed by Governor Quinn on June 2013, but not a single company has applied for a fracking permit because oil prices have tanked due to the success of fracking in the US (Wernau, 2015). Illinois has a debt crisis driven by unfunded pension obligations, the country s worst credit rating, weak job growth, and people are leaving our state at an alarming rate (Dabrowski, 2015). With Illinois in such dire straights, we don t need a financial hail mary... we need a financial slam-dunk. It s time Illinois took a serious look at the pros and cons of fracking. I will begin by investigating the alternative policy options, go through the economic theories associated with fracking, and in the final section I will summarize the main points and provide support for why I think fracking is the best option for the state of Illinois. ALTERNATIVES As I mentioned in the previous section, Illinois is in a financial quagmire, which is the main reason fracking is a positive alternative. Fracking companies have the ability to hire hundreds of constituents at higher wages, which