Fracking is the process of extracting oil or natural gas from shale rock. Water, sand, and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which fractures the rock and allows the oil or gas to flow out to a well. While fracking has significantly boosted oil production, there are environmental concerns that the process is contaminating groundwater. This is all and good, but it can be substituted in many ways in allowing drilling on federal land and in that case, any activity that would increase a resource for the American economy. Fracking has been known or blamed for many small earthquakes throughout the US and damage aquafers. In the case of oil, this is OK to wean ourselves off the dependence of OPEC oil. In the case of natural gas, methane, which can be abstracted from garbage dumps, swamps and melting permafrost, fracking is not necessary.
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