Environmentalists and fracking proponents at loggerheads in UK and US

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Gordon Matilla----It isn't just the United States and the Keystone Pipeline, as well as shale gas, where the oil and gas companies are looking to make a killing in the energy production but the UK involved as well in the debate over the environment and energy needs, as folks deliberate opportunity versus environmental risk.

Energy stories have dominated the British press for some time with accent on energy production, as protestors are determined to the stop progress at the Balcome fracking site.   The energy industry looks to making Britain a self-sufficient nation with respect to natural gas and job creation.

And the US is seen as an example for exporting Shale gas as the UK looks also to fulfilling nine years of gas demand. David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, is in favor of the plan, even as President Barack Obama continues to try to balance the needs of the US and the concerns of environmentalists.

Proponents of natural gas believe the Shale Gas drilling could bring about bring a serious boost to the UK economy and create over 74,000 jobs, especially in the North West

Envronmentals in the UK, however, argue against fracking for the same reasons they are concerned about the process in the US, that it harms the environment. Specifically they are concerned about the chemicals that release pollutants into local water and cause fires. They also worry about earthquakes, as two minor ones have occurred near Blackpool.

In the US proponents of fracking say natural gas has more benefits for energy than other sources such as coal. That's because it can burn cleaner. Furthermore leaders in the gas industry point to the economic growth as another major reason for developing natural gas.

Opponents like Michael Kelly, who is the media liaison for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project maintains, “There are so many unknowns about this that we're creating a mass health experiment, and it's being conducted without the consent of the people who are most likely to be hurt by it.”

Water, water everywhere while some cities may run out of water

While Mississippi is getting flood waters one foot higher than experienced before in modern history, the Southwest is parched, thirsty and aching for relief, showing the wide variations of environmental desperation in the United States.

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Across Texas fires have intermittently threatened some of the state's major cities, with the accent on the North and Central areas and the Dallas - Fort Worth areas feeling the heat as well.   Places like Tucumcari, New Mexico have had fires at the edge of town, with the surrounding areas bleak and dry.

Las Vegas that drinks from Lake Mead, sharing its water demands with Los Angeles,  is more than 100% below the usual and customary water levels.  Las Vegas is one of the ten cities in the United States reported in 2010 to be running out of water.    Water indeed is in short supply along the Nevada corridor from the middle of the state to its border with California.  Lakes are running dry, and the sandy bottoms raised in a fashion not seen in many years.

Climate change is considered by scientists to be at the heart of these wide variations in climate, which can be seen in a travel across the country.  Bearing witness in person to what scientific studies relate and various news media announce gives one a level of understanding to recognize how important it is for individual responsibility and energy options to mitigate what is said to be increasing environmental risks.

Texas, New Mexico, Mississippi, Arizona, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee are feeling the pain, the kind of pain where the wounds are apparent, and it is water, too much and not enough, at the center of the problems.