Pollution from Natural Gas Drilling

Today's New York Times has this piece on the pollution being generated by natural gas production in the US. As noted below, the prospect of extracting natural gas and using that to provide energy for the country is an exciting one, not least because it gives us a chance to pollute less. (Natural gas use results in less CO2 emissions and by pulling it out of the ground and using it here at home we can be sure that the cleanest technologies are used.) However, it's not perfect. Groundwater contamination has happened in some places, ruining wells and even blowing up whole houses. It sounds like technological improvements are on the way but even then there are likely to be complications. I'm very excited to see the natural gas industry develop here in the US but I hope that environmental agencies at the state and Federal levels will be keeping a close eye on it as it does so.