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Back to To the Point

To the Point

Does 'Fracking' Have a Future?

In the past ten years, gas trapped in shale rock deep under Earth's surface has leaped from two percent to 30 percent of America's natural gas production. The reason is development of hydraulic fracturing, a horizontal drilling technique that allows rock to be broken up so the gas can be extracted.

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By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

In the past ten years, gas trapped in shale rock deep under Earth's surface has leaped from two percent to 30 percent of America's natural gas production. The reason is development of hydraulic fracturing, a horizontal drilling technique that allows rock to be broken up so the gas can be extracted. Advocates of "fracking" claim it could make the US energy independent in five or ten years. American technology is so advanced that foreign companies are investing in US projects in order to learn it. Small landholders have become instant millionaires. But there are tradeoffs: water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and even earthquakes. We hear what it's like to live near a "fracking" project. How does it work? Is it time for Congress to weigh the risks and the benefits of a technology so new that it's almost unregulated?

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    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

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    Andrea Brody

    Senior Producer, KCRW's Life Examined and To the Point podcast

  • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

    Sonya Geis

    Senior Managing Editor

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    Christian Bordal

    Managing Producer, Greater LA

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    Ed Crooks

    Financial Times

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    Janice Crompton

    Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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    Robert Howarth

    Cornell University

    NewsNationalPolitics
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