The Netherlands has the largest natural gas reserves in Europe. But the multibillion dollar industry that has helped keep the Dutch on solid ground through the Great Recession is shaking property owners to their foundations.
The BBC reports fracking companies face 6,000 damage claims from Dutch property owners for earthquakes linked to the Groningen natural gas fields, which are the biggest in the EU. The Dutch government's cut of the fracking pie last year was about $18 billion.
We've seen this movie before, and it's playing in theaters around the world.
The dozens of Groningen earthquakes recorded since 1996 are similar to earthquakes linked to fracking in U.S. natural gas fields. In Oklahoma, scientists recently tied fracking to the strongest temblor in state history. And fracking has been exempt from several key U.S. environmental laws since 2005.
The fracking drama pits profits and an energy quick fix against a barely understood range of environmental dangers that includes earthquakes and ground water contamination. In most cases, governments are apparently looking the other way with their hands out while the petroleum industry fracks away despite obvious environmental damage.
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