Natural Gas

General Information

• “cleanest, safest, and most useful of all energy sources”
• includes methane, propane, ethane, butane, and carbon dioxide
• fossil fuel (formed through organic matter)

Benefits

• least pollution
• cleanest when burning
• abundance in the United States

Drawbacks

• releases greenhouse gases
• contaminates water and causes air pollution
• fracking (used to extract natural gas and oil from deep underground)

Scenario

• A new fracking company is willing to pay you to frack on your land and promised to give you a large amount of money, enough to buy a new house and have extra money. Your community is against fracking and you know that fracking can cause water contamination and air pollution. At the same time, it can cause economic prosperity and create new jobs. What would you do?