Snake Oil: How Fracking's False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future - Softcover

'Those who think fracked gas is a panacea for our energy future would do well to read this cautionary account.' - Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and author of Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist 'We are already living with the false promise that fracking would not harm the environment. Now read the facts about the false promise that it will provide an energy-secure future and lots of jobs. Snake Oil debunks all the myths. It is a must-read for our elected leaders.' - Maude Barlow, Board Chair of Food & Water Watch and author of Blue Covenant

The rapid spread of 'fracking' (hydraulic fracturing) has temporarily boosted natural gas and oil production, particularly in the USA, but it has also sparked a massive environmental backlash in local communities. The fossil fuel industry is promoting fracking as the biggest energy development of the century, with seductive promises of energy independence and benefits to local economies. Snake Oil casts a critical eye on the oil-industry hype that has hijacked the discussion over energy security. This is the first book to look at fracking from both economic and environmental perspectives, informed by the most thorough analysis of shale gas and oil drilling data ever undertaken. Is fracking the miracle cure-all to our energy ills, or a costly distraction from the necessary work of reducing our fossil fuel dependence?