Member-only story

The Great Fracking Mirage

The shale oil revolution is about to go bust, leaving the environment and the economy in ashes.

Angus Peterson
Edge of Collapse
10 min readDec 28, 2024

--

A fracking well and oil pumps are seen with a sunset in the background.
(Image credit: Environment America)

For nearly two decades, the U.S. shale oil boom has been celebrated as a modern-day miracle, transforming America into a net oil exporter and redefining global energy markets. Leveraging advanced technologies like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, the industry unlocked vast reserves of oil and natural gas trapped in dense rock formations, creating a flood of cheap energy and bolstering America’s economy. This shift from dependence to dominance reshaped geopolitical power dynamics, lowered energy costs, and fueled widespread optimism about the country’s energy future.

But this apparent success is little more than a mirage. Beneath the surface, the shale oil boom has been quietly sowing the seeds of an impending catastrophe. Driven by short-term profits and sustained by unsustainable practices, the industry’s fragile economic foundations are cracking under the weight of resource depletion and mounting debt. The environmental costs are staggering, from groundwater contamination to methane emissions and a worsening climate crisis. And as the best wells dry up, the coming bust will usher in a new era of scarcity, skyrocketing energy prices, and growing inequality.

Shale Oil Fueled…

--

--

Edge of Collapse
Edge of Collapse

Published in Edge of Collapse

Becoming collapse aware in the age of the permanent polycrisis.

Angus Peterson
Angus Peterson

Written by Angus Peterson

Becoming collapse aware in the age of the permanent polycrisis. Follow to get all the new stories: https://anguspeterson.medium.com/subscribe

Responses (29)