Hydraulic fracturing, also referred to as “fracking”, is a method used to create many tiny fractures in underground rock formations allowing natural gas to flow into a well.  Hydraulic fracturing allows you to get natural gas out of fine grained sedimentary rock like shale cost effectively.  A major concern with hydraulic fracturing is the environmental and human health concerns associated with the hydro fracturing fluid and waste water used during the process.  There is no federal law that requires companies to disclose what chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing.  These unknown chemicals are of concern to those with wells near fracking sites that are worried about well water contamination.  The oil and gas industry insists that the issue of fracking fluid chemical disclosure is best left up to the states.  In this PDF, the authors make the argument states are not doing all they can in regards to ensuring the disclosure of hydraulic fracturing fluids.  Another criticism with hydraulic fracturing is with how much water is used during the process.  According to hydraulicfracturing.com, a typical Chesapeake Energy horizontal deep shale natural gas fracking setup requires an average of 4.5 million gallons per well.  Disposal of the waste water after processing the well provides its own issues.  Hydraulic fracturing produces waste water containing carcinogens, corrosive salts and radioactive materials.  Here is a an interactive map The New York Times has put together with data collected from over 200 natural gas wells in Pennsylvania.  The map lays out the well location in conjunction with levels of toxic contaminants that have contaminated the wells.  Natural gas is often claimed as being a clean source of energy.  It is true that natural gas does burn cleaner than coal and other fossil fuels, but the hidden costs of natural gas extraction might not make it as “clean” as we once thought.

After my previous post on 5 fast food meals with the most calories, I wanted to provide healthier options to those meals.  To cut down on calories and save money you should drink water when going out.  Tap water is usually free at fast food restaurants, and is a far better choice than high calorie, high sugar drinks like soda.  You will notice that I don't list any drinks in the meals below.  I am assuming you are drinking free tap water when going out to fast food restaurants.  

Here is where I pulled the numbers for this post. 

http://www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_nutrition.pdf

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts.pdf

http://www.bk.com/page_templates/whopperbar/pdf/nutritional.pdf

http://www.sonicdrivein.com/pdfs/menu/SonicNutritionGuide.pdf

http://www.steaknshake.com/media/pdf/Feb2011_NutritionalFacts.pdf

I wanted to see what fast food restaurants had meals with the most calories.  My definition of a meal is a main course, a side, and a drink.  These meal combinations are pretty disgusting and have more calories in one meal than your daily caloric intake is for the entire day!

Here is where I pulled the numbers for this post. 

http://www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_nutrition.pdf

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts.pdf

http://www.bk.com/page_templates/whopperbar/pdf/nutritional.pdf

http://www.sonicdrivein.com/pdfs/menu/SonicNutritionGuide.pdf

http://www.steaknshake.com/media/pdf/Feb2011_NutritionalFacts.pdf

The full list of states with their rankings can be found here.  I was having trouble explaining how Louisiana, Iowa, and Kentucky got onto the top 10 list.  I could explain the other states based on their very cold average temperatures, and in the case of Texas, it's very high average temperature, but could not explain the others.  For a list of the average temperature per state check out this post.  By taking a look at how we use energy in the United States, I stumbled upon a clue that might explain their high energy usage per capita.  You can check out a graph on how we use erergy in the United States here.  After looking at the graph I noticed that over 30% of our energy is used for Industrial purposes.  It turns out that Lousiana, Iowa, and Kentucky have a big manufacturing sector in their economies.  For more information on the "state" of manufacturing in the us, check out this post.  

Top ten list

Wyoming :  280103 BTUs per person per year

Alaska :  265958 BTUs per person per year

Louisiana :  219751 BTUs per person per year

North Dakota : 193665 BTUs  per person per year

Iowa: 138187 BTUs per person per year 

Texas : 133664 BTUs per person per year 

South Dakota : 130071 BTUs per person per year

Kentucky : 127539 BTUs per person per year

Nebraska : 123953 BTUs per person per year

Montana : 123784 BTUs per person per year

I wanted to cross reference energy usage by state with average temperature by state to try and explain the huge range in energy usage between states.  Below is a list sorted from lowest to highest average state temperature for the year 2009.  The source of the data can be found here (ncdc.noaa.gov)  You can view energy consumption per person per state here.  I am going to do a little analysis and post my findings in my next entry.    

in degrees fahrenheit..

NORTH DAKOTA - 38.51

MINNESOTA - 40.48

MAINE - 40.97

WYOMING - 41.79

MONTANA - 42.18

WISCONSIN - 42.47

VERMONT - 42.71

NEW HAMPSHIRE - 43.26

SOUTH DAKOTA - 43.63

MICHIGAN - 43.72

IDAHO - 44.46

NEW YORK - 45.47

COLORADO - 45.59

IOWA - 46.59

NEBRASKA - 47.48

MASSACHUSETTS - 47.53

WASHINGTON - 48.22

PENNSYLVANIA - 48.27

CONNECTICUT - 48.53

OREGON - 48.54

UTAH - 49.13

RHODE ISLAND - 50.03

NEVADA - 50.24

OHIO - 50.60

INDIANA - 51.17

ILLINOIS - 51.26

WEST VIRGINIA - 51.39

NEW JERSEY - 53.11

KANSAS - 53.17

MISSOURI - 53.88

MARYLAND & D.C. - 54.23

NEW MEXICO - 54.58

VIRGINIA - 55.03

KENTUCKY - 55.08

DELAWARE - 55.61

TENNESSEE - 57.27

NORTH CAROLINA - 59.03

OKLAHOMA - 59.19

ARKANSAS - 59.74

CALIFORNIA - 60.21

ARIZONA - 61.48

SOUTH CAROLINA - 62.33

ALABAMA - 62.84

GEORGIA - 63.11

MISSISSIPPI - 63.58

TEXAS - 65.43

LOUISIANA - 66.89

FLORIDA - 71.09