Global Geopolitics of Fracking in Australia Essay - 581 Words

Geopolitics of Fracking in Australia As Australia’s energy demands rise along with a rising population it is likely that fossil fuel consumption will also rise despite concerns about climate change. This energy demand as well as government debt has seen the start of hydraulic fracturing in Queensland. The development of coal seam gas is to create thousands of jobs while providing a boost to the state’s economy. Many Australian landowners are allowing the fracking on their properties because they will receive income from the well (De Rijke 2013). The decision of the government to commence fracking has been opposed by the wider public. Local governments are virtually powerless to stop fracking as this power lies with the Australian state and†¦show more content†¦But not everywhere is fracking a viable extraction technique. Blackwill and O’sullivan’s paper states, â€Å"The fracking revolution required more than just favourable geology; it also took financiers with a tolerance for risk , a property-rights regime that let landowners claim underground resources, a network of service providers and delivery infrastructure, and an industry structure characterized by thousands of entrepreneurs rather than a single national oil company.† The paper declares that although many countries around the world have the shale gas, aside from the USA and Canada, no other countries have the right industrial environment in order to have hydraulic fracturing expand as rapidly. Political Opposition to Fracking Across the world, protest groups are gaining momentum in the fight against Fracking. Many concerns among the local populations include fears for industrialized landscapes, increased power of multinational enterprises, ground and surface water pollution, food production and general human and environmental health (De Rijke 2013). These are becoming important issues to the general public. The increasing awareness about the dangers of fracking are being told from media sources such as the documentary â€Å"Gasland.† The film directed by Josh Fox, about was nominated for an Academy Award 2011. The documentary is famous for showing tap water burst into flames due to methane gas contamination. To date, fracking has not been very well regulated.Show MoreRelatedU.s. Lng Exportation Policy And The Wto8704 Words   |  35 Pages Consistently Inconsistent: U.S. LNG Exportation Policy and the WTO MICHAEL P. SMITH Efficiency advances in natural gas extraction and development, as well as a shift in global economics, have led to a surge in global liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand in the United States. At the same time, pervasive environmental concerns heighten the stakes for expanding upstream natural gas development and downstream LNG exportation. While