63% of Americans Aren't Sure What Fracking Is
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been the subject of numerous pieces investigative journalism, a popular and Oscar-nominate documentary, a slew of YouTube videos of flaming faucets, and even a Mark Ruffalo-led awareness campaign... and still, most of us don't even know what the hell it is. According to a University of Texas poll of 2,400 Americans pointed out by Talking Points Memo, 28 percent of respondents were "not familiar" with fracking while 35 percent had somehow "never heard of" it. That means that a majority of Americans, or 63 percent, doesn't know the first thing about the controversial natural gas drilling method that can lace your drinking water with methane and set it on fire along with inflicting other harms. It probably doesn't help that the president isn't so comfortable saying the word, even as he talks about the process as a possible solution to the country's foreign fossil fuel dependence.
RELATED: Could the U.S. Actually Become Energy Independent?
RELATED: The U.S. a 'New Middle East'?; Bees Are Big Business
As a public service of sorts, we recommend those still in the dark on fracking watch this rap video explainer below. Rap is how youths understand energy policy these days, we guess.
RELATED: The Fracking Song: Making Geology Catchy
