Drilling down on shale gas.

• Author: Winter, Mary
• Position: TRENDS & TRANSITIONS - Regulation on drilling for shale gas

Natural gas production hit a record high in 2012, with drillers delivering nearly 30 million cubic feet, an increase of 25 percent since 2006. Legislatures have been working at a similar pace, discussing how much to regulate the technology that's fueling the boom hydraulic fracturing.

In 2013, lawmakers in 31 states have introduced more than 170 bills related to hydraulic fracturing, a process in which drillers inject a mixture of highly pressurized water, sand and chemicals into underground shale, creating fractures that release trapped natural gas. Along with other technological advances, many experts believe hydraulic fracturing could make America energy independent by 2020 and supply the country with relatively cheap, clean energy for the next 90 years.

The natural gas boom has produced a recession-fighting financial windfall for local and state governments in Colorado, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming, among others, in the form of jobs, sales and severance tax revenue, lower gas prices and increased industrial activity.

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But the fast-growing practice of hydraulic fracturing also has seen stiff opposition. Homeowners in some suburban communities are concerned about the 24-hour activity, noise, odors and infrastructure damage drilling operations can cause, as well as their water consumption. Some environmentalists say hydraulic fracturing pollutes water and air with hazardous chemicals, endangering public health. They cite a 2011 Environmental Protection Agency study of water in heavily drilled Pavillion, Wyo., where residents complained of brown, foul-smelling water. The EPA said the groundwater contained compounds "likely associated with gas production practices, including hydraulic fracturing," and urged further study. Some have disputed the study, however and the scientific peer review of the draft report has been delayed.

Gas industry officials and others, including a number of government leaders, claim fears about hydraulic fracturing are overblown, and that charges against hydraulic fracturing are often untrue. They cite a February 2012 report by the University of Texas at Austin that found many water contamination problems blamed on the deep-underground injection of hydraulic fracturing fluids in fact had other causes, such as "well casing failures or poor cement jobs." Generally, contamination "can be traced to above ground spills or other...