Fracking and the EPA

Last week the EPA announced they were going to begin investigating the environmental consequences of "fracking," which is hydraulic fracturing of shale to extract natural gas. I think this is great: I hope that they can identify the externalities associated with extraction and encourage responsible harvesting. Natural gas is a great asset and the new methods for harvesting look to increase US reserves considerably, which should cut this country's dependence on petroleum and drop our emissions of greenhouse gases. Hopefully the EPA will be able to identify some steps that will enable the extraction process to go as smoothly and as harmlessly as possible.