The Real Cost of Fracking

Praise

“In this cool, disarming and persuasive indictment of fracking’s widespread negative consequences, the authors provide an important addition to an ongoing debate.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“This pragmatic, cautionary analysis is recommended for general readers.”
—Library Journal

“Bamberger and Oswald’s message is clear: The canaries of the gas patch are wheezing and keeling over. We are being warned.”
—Slate

“Here, woven among the courageous words of human witnesses, is the unimpeachable story of science carried out in extreme and intimidating circumstances. It is the sound of silence breaking.”
—Sandra Steingraber, from the Foreword

“A must-read primer on fracking—the compelling interviews and informative narrative tell the heartbreaking story of how people’s lives are destroyed by fracking. If you care about the food you eat or animal welfare issues—read this book!”
—Wenonah Hauter, Director of Food & Water Watch, author of Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America

“Sometimes, just when we think we know enough about a very important subject, a book comes along that shows us—in urgent, even chilling, terms—how much more we need to understand. The Real Cost of Fracking is such a book. It cracks open the reality of fracking and seats us across the kitchen table from real people who have been poisoned—and who, despite being American citizens and taxpayers, can’t do a thing about it. The farmers, retirees and children we meet in these pages are canaries in the fracking mine—and they are in serious danger.”
—Barbara Gottlieb, Director for Environment & Health, Physicians for Social Responsibility

“The Real Cost of Fracking adroitly documents the maladies that fracking inflicts on its neighbors and their animals, and Bamberger and Oswald convincingly connect these illnesses with current science and statistical studies. The authors provide a reasoned and impassioned call for government to stop toxic trespass by the fracking industry. The people will demand it after reading Real Cost.”
—Weston Wilson, environmental engineer and EPA whistle-blower

“Finally, here is the narrative that relays the tragic toll of the shale-gas boom in America; how ordinary people, who lovingly care for children and animals, gardens and farms, find themselves imprisoned by the toxicity of the fracked landscapes they once called home. Our hearts break for the ruin they shoulder while we applaud Bamberger and Oswald for drawing back the veil on the injustice being wrought.”
—Amy Seidl, author of Finding Higher Ground: Adaptation in the Age of Warming