Frack thy neighbor?

To frack or not to frack? I’m considering that question while sitting here toasty warm, thanks to my furnace – fueled by natural gas. Before I go to bed, I’ll enjoy a nice hot shower with water heated by my natural gas-fired water heater. My laptop is connected to the grid, which supplies electricity from generators powered mainly by nuclear energy or by burning coal or natural gas. I’m staying well fed by the bounty of America agriculture, which requires nitrogen fertilizer, which requires natural gas as a key input in its manufacture.

So I must admit that I am definitely benefitting from fracking somewhere. Is it fair for me to be opposed to fracking in North Carolina, but not opposed to fracking wherever it is occurring to produce the natural gas that I’m using? Is fracking OK as long as it is NIMBY?

Larry D. King

Raleigh