Fracking companies should be more cooperative

I enjoyed the On Investments -column “Fracking: Investment opportunity with plenty of risk” (InvestmentNews, Dec. 3).

It was well-researched and presented.

I am surprised that the fracking firms haven’t realized that they are participants in an industry that has at best a marginal reputation and are living during a time when people in this country are used to having any information about anything at their fingertips. The 32-point reporting scenario seems like it would be truly in their best interests to achieve and exceed.

I realize that there are billions of dollars at stake, and anything perceived to take energy away from that focus is probably seen as a distraction, but think for a minute what they might achieve if one of those companies were perceived as the “good-guy fracking firm.”

If they came right out and said, “Yes, we do produce some toxic waste material, and here is what we do with it, because we are very concerned about our environment.”

Or if there were a company that invited inspection by a third party to show the world that they were playing by the rules and beyond. It seems like there would be an outpouring of support and, most importantly, “investment” in that company by Americans who understand that we need the energy and that this is a sound practice being operated by an honest, hardworking, transparent company.

My world is small and getting smaller as I succumb to the realization that I am a dinosaur and that my independent-freedom and liberty-for-all mindset is sadly out of fashion and likely won’t be back in the limelight anytime soon.

Clinton J. Struthers

Principal

Struthers Financial Services

Midland, Mich.

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