which is worse....coal or fracking

[dembotoz]

obviously they both suck....prefer wind solar etc,

but we hear arguments that coal is being replaced by natural gas because the gas is cheap and to a large extent this cheapness is due to fracking

are we cutting off our nose?

[TXCritter]

1. I don't know about our noses but we are sinking our homes

Literally, between earthquakes and sinkholes fracking is destroying towns.

[dembotoz]

2. there is a post elsewhere in du about all the damn earthquakes in oklahoma

this is progress?

[annabanana]

3. fracking also poisons ground water . . n/t

[Calculating]

4. It's a tough one

Fracking has enabled us to get off coal by providing cheap NG, but fracking is almost as bad if not worse than coal mining. It's a win for climate though, because NG produces less CO2 than coal.

[Adrahil]

5. IMO Coal by a long shot.

Both damage the environment, but Coal produces a lot for CO2, which is the gravest environmental threat atm, as it will cause cataclysmic damage for generations.

[Motley13]

6. Coal is dying, fracking is increasing

so I say fracking

[Calculating]

7. Coal is only dying because of fracking

[stevenleser]

8. There is tremendous value in this discussion and even more so if you add other energy options

The sad truth is until renewable energy options are made that can generate the kinds of power that our society needs, we are stuck with using less than optimal solutions. Ranking those undesirable but necessary options in terms of best to worst would be a useful exercise to then eliminate those that cause the worst damage.

[benld74]

9. YES