legislation have made battlegrounds out of places like Colorado and Texas, where gas is plentiful, and especially along the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation that stretches across parts of Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York, where improved technology has only recently allowed for easier access to reserves.  At issue is the safety of the hydraulic fracturing process, referred to in shorthand as fracking, a technique that relies upon highly pressurized water to optimally access gas trapped within rock.  With drill heads rapidly springing up across these areas and now that longstanding moratoriums have been lifted, it’s worth considering just what all of this means for the country.
     Environmentalists have voiced their concern for careful management during this rush for gas, but that hasn’t always meant complete opposition to it.  One high-profile environmental advocate, Kathleen McGinty, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality under Bill Clinton and currently a member of New York State’s advisory panel on the issue, says she supports the pursuit of natural gas as an alternative to other energy sources.  “I think shale gas represents a cleaner resource that can make us more energy secure,” she tells PLANET. But she also warns, “The contributions that natural gas can make need to be supported by an approach that puts top priority on air and water protections in and around development activities.”