The humanity has performed many destructive actions that have led to the extinction of rare animals, areas, and resources. One of such activities is fracking, or the process of drilling natural gas, which is one of the ways of obtaining more resources but, at the same time, damages land and harms people’s health. Although both Fox’s and Pickens’s arguments contain ethos, logos, and pathos, the story of Fox seems to be more persuasive.
The most convincing aspect in both articles is that their authors are concerned about the nation’s future. However, Pickens suggests promoting fracking, whereas Fox explains how dangerous the outcomes of this process are and argues that it should not be allowed. In Pickens’s article, ethos is manifested through the authority of the writer, who is a famous businessman. Fox, in his turn, offers credibility through research that he had performed when he was requested by a natural gas mining company to lease his land to them. Instead of immediately agreeing, he decided to see how the process of drilling “affected other communities and homeowners” (Fox).
What he found out was daunting: people reported to have noticed bubbles in their water or even to be able to set water on fire (Fox). These aspects are the pathos of Fox’s story: he created an impassioned plea to his audience by demonstrating how dangerous the idea of fracking is. A video “Light Your Water on Fire from Gas Drilling, Fracking” demonstrates lighting the water with a match, which is too impressive to neglect. As Fox mentions, some people in the area with such water even “shower with their lights off” because they are afraid of a fire in the building. Meanwhile, Pickens’s pathos is manifested through the explanation of how much money the USA is losing because it imports oil and gas. Pickens continuously repeats that people in the country will suffer an economic crisis if nothing is done to replace the imported resources.
Finally, both speakers appeal to the audience’s logic by offering abundant examples and statistics. For instance, Pickens mentions that the US imported less than 25% of oil in 1970 and as much as nearly 50% in 2013. The author also remarks that the cost of importing 1.35 billion barrels of oil from OPEC constituted $147 billion in 2013 (Pickens). At the same time, Fox’s statistics are focused on the tremendous damage done to both humans and nature in the process of fracking. For instance, he notes that the amount of water exploited by natural gas drilling companies per frack varies from 2 to 7 million gallons (Fox).
However, this waste is not the only problem: many people suffer from poor-quality water and have serious health issues as a result of living in the area where fracking is performed. Fox mentions that 65% of Pennsylvania and 50% of New York summer camps agreed to lease their land. As a result, even if one refuses to lease, as Fox did, one cannot be warranted that they will not be affected by their neighbors’ decision. Both Pickens and Fox worry about green energy development, but Fox’s arguments are more persuasive. The government should not promote fracking until it makes sure that citizens are safe. Although taking care of economy is highly important, the lives of people living in the country seem to be much more significant.
Works Cited
Fox, Josh. “Living in the Middle of a ‘Gasland’.” NPR. 2010. Web.
“Light Your Water on Fire from Gas Drilling, Fracking.” YouTube, uploaded by Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition. 2011. Web.
Pickens, T. Boone. “The Plan.” PickensPlan, n.d. Web.