Fracking causes contamination of the near by water tables. Nothing is a free ride.
That's the reason they do it in remote areas. The problem is, they don't know exactly where the aquifers go or how far.
Never said anything was a free ride, but more people need to learn about energy- politicians like to tell us what we need and what they'll give us but one example, Ethanol, should NOT be in gasoline. It costs more to produce than the selling price, so the Government subsidizes its production and corn that could have been used to feed livestock is used, so that drives up the price of food. They should be using switch grass- it grows easily all over the US, requires no chemicals and it wouldn't affect the food supply. The Ethanol has lower energy density than gasoline and causes terrible damage to fuel systems. My friend's boat was made in 1989 and next to the fuel filler fitting, Carver installed a small plate with "Using fuel with Alcohol is dangerous".
The fuel economy loss from adding Ethanol means that for every pound of fuel used, the blended fuel will move a vehicle a shorter distance than the same amount of gasoline. The hydrocarbon emissions will be different, but the NOX content tends to be higher and that causes its own problems.
Like it or not, Diesel is more efficient than gasoline, but this is 'Murica, where we like our gasoline.
