Topics that touch on geology are increasingly in the news today –– everything from whether new oil-drilling techniques such as fracking are dangerous to the environment, to whether oil and gas are in decline and will soon be replaced by new alternative sources of energy.

To get a seasoned perspective on a few of these issues, we asked three prominent Baylor geology alumni who have gone on to distinguished careers in the oil and gas industry to take part in a round table discussion.

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Dr. Kenneth Q. Carlile of Marshall (BA ’69, DDS ’73, PhD ’96) is co-owner of The Carlile Companies, which consist of Martex Well Services Inc.; Unitex Properties LLP and Camterra Resources Inc. He is also co-owner of Camterra Resources Inc., which operates in four states and the Gulf of Mexico, and serves on the Baylor Board of Regents.

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Jim Meyerhoff of Houston (BS ’78, MS ’83) is chief geophysicist at Santo Petroleum LLC. He has spent more than 35 years working in the oil and gas industry working as a geophysicist, manager and partner in various small and large companies. At Baylor, he maintains a close relationship with the math and geology departments and serves on the advisory board for the Center for Christian Music Studies.

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Tom Moore of Whitney (BS ’66, MS ’68) has spent more than 40 years in the oil and gas industry. During that time he has held many executive positions, including president of Clayton Williams’ oil operations in the 1980s. He was also a founding partner in Magnum Energy, Titan Resources, Pure Resources and Celero Energy. He serves as chair of the Baylor College of Arts & Sciences Board of Advocates.

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Fracking –– injecting liquid at high pressure underground to force open rocks and extract oil or gas –– has come under fire by a number of environmentalists and policymakers who say it’s environmentally harmful. Some believe that it may contribute to increased seismic activity, while others maintain that it risks contamination of groundwater because of the oil and gas it frees up underground. From your perspective, is fracking as much a liability as these detractors claim it is?

Kenneth Carlile: Fracking has been going on a long time –– for more than 60 years. And of the thousand or so examples of fracking I’ve seen being used, there’s only maybe one instance where there was a possible problem.

Jim Meyerhoff: People are afraid of it because of misunderstanding. It’s a very controlled process and very safe. Tens of thousands of wells have been fracked since the 1960s, so this is nothing new. What is new is that fracking is taking place in horizontal wells, but they aren’t that new, either. The first horizontal wells were drilled in 1989, and fracking of these horizontal wells have been going on for at least 20 years. It’s only because it’s become so in vogue that people are being alarmists.

Tom Moore: I don’t buy all the arguments claiming that fracking contaminates groundwater. I think most of the things that have been raised in that regard haven’t proven to be true. They are all just things people are theoretically concerned about.

Meyerhoff: As far as creating an environmental problem goes, those who say fracking is ruining groundwater are not being truthful. There have been thousands of pipelines across the Ogallala aquifer for generations. There are thousands of wells –– oil and gas wells –– that have been drilled through the Ogallala aquifer down to deeper depths 50 years ago. Did we ruin the aquifer then? No. So why is fracking a problem? A lot of this is scare tactics and not rooted in truth.

Carlile: If you really go down to try to find water supplies that have been contaminated with actual natural gas or residual frac fluid, it is a rare occasion when you can find that. And you’ve got to be sure that the natural gas is not being generated in the near surface, soil or rock which is biogenic production of methane.

Moore: There was an HBO special that showed somebody lighting water coming out of their faucet that contained natural gas, supposedly as a result of fracking. But they were lighting faucets in that area a hundred years ago because there is biogenic natural gas [gas produced by natural biological processes] that is actually formed in the aquifers there.

Carlile: If fracking was being unmonitored and unchecked, that would be one thing. But in Texas and in other states, every time a major procedure is completed, there is a government official out there to sign off on each step and make sure it’s done correctly. Now, in every industry there’s always someone who cannot follow procedure. However, it’s just not the norm in the oil and gas industry. If the frac doesn’t stimulate the rock at a depth (1,000 to 12,000 feet below the surface) it would be an economic failure.

Meyerhoff: What people don’t understand is that gasoline is roughly $2.30 a gallon today because of fracking. If we didn’t have fracking, gasoline would be well north of $4 a gallon right now. We would have a huge worldwide shortage of oil if it wasn’t for fracking.

Will alternative fuels –– such as solar and wind power –– prove to be a viable replacement for oil and gas anytime soon?

Moore: Not in my lifetime and probably not in my kids’ lifetime. The mix of energy that we use will always change, but to survive, (energy) has to be cost effective. Right now there is nothing out there –– solar, wind or anything else –– the economics of which will stand on its own. These are all subsidized.

Meyerhoff: Widespread use of alternative fuels is way in the future. There are those who believe that we’re on the cusp of it now, and from a technology standpoint you can argue we are, but so many environmentally minded people are ignoring the facts of economics. Everyone says –– well, they use more solar power in Germany and other parts of Europe and the world. That’s because the governments (in Europe) tax oil and gas production at higher levels, so therefore alternative fuels can become economically feasible and can compete. But in the United States, solar energy and wind energy still cannot compete even with oil priced at $100 a barrel.

Carlile: I really don’t believe that the United States can restrict itself not to have an energy source that is as efficient as oil and gas –– with as high BTU per volume. In addition, we are going to have to utilize state-of-the-art technology to be able to develop oil and gas deposits.

Meyerhoff: People don’t understand what it takes to get (alternative energy) –– how many windmills need to be built and how many solar panels (need to be) put out to create enough energy for everyone. There are those who say, let’s get rid of oil right now entirely and just switch. That’s not possible. There aren’t enough materials, people and supplies to build what needs to be built. And every one of those windmills you see costs $5 million dollars to build, and it takes them up to 10 years to break even. However, government taxpayer subsidies greatly improve the economics of wind power.