At times the opponents of fracking seem so desperate to manufacture ugly headlines about it that they draw ludicrous conclusions from correlations. For instance, a year ago the National Bureau of Economic Research blamed fracking for a tiny increase in North Dakota’s rate of high school drop outs. But that’s dumb. To the extent that…
Zach Lugibihl, from left, and brothers K.C. and Dusty Sutton, all of Nine Energy Service, prepare to install a blow out preventer July 7, 2014, on a new well south of Stanley, N.D., that has been fracked and needs to be cleaned out before it produces oil. Michael Vosburg / Forum Photo Editor