SHALE WE?

Last month there was a report on 60 Minutes about the abundance of shale there is in this country. About the equivalent of two (2) Saudi Arabias!

Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that forms from the compaction of silt and clay-size mineral particles that we commonly call "mud". This composition places shale in a category of sedimentary rocks known as "mudstones". Shale is distinguished from other mudstones because it is fissile and laminated. "Laminated" means that the rock is made up of many thin layers. "Fissile" means that the rock readily splits into thin pieces along the laminations.

In the late 1990s natural gas drilling companies developed new methods for liberating oil and natural gas that is trapped within the tiny pore spaces of shale. This discovery was significant because it unlocked some of the largest natural gas deposits in the world.

We are talking natural gas. Gas that can heat our homes, drive out businesses, and make us independent of Saudi Arabia and all the towel heads and sheep dating goons.

We can now buy bigger SUV’s, and fill them up and menace people with small cars more easily, we can fill it up cheaper and more often. Yes, shale is good!

We will now have more cars on the road, longer commutes due to traffic jams, and no place to park! Lines at the Shale station will be longer, causing one to wait their turn more often than not.

This is going to anger our friends from the Middle East of course, since no one will buy their gas and oil deposits. They may want to try selling their sand. They might even need a hand out from Uncle Sap!

You are probably wondering why I wrote this, so am I!