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Gasland: A film by Josh Fox. The Whole Fracking Enchilada | Sandra Steingraber. Each Other—Where We Are Violating the bedrock, the atmosphere, and everything in between by Sandra Steingraber I HAVE COME to believe that extracting natural gas from shale using the newish technique called hydrofracking is the environmental issue of our time. And I think you should, too. Saying so represents two points of departure for me. One: I primarily study toxic chemicals, not energy issues. Two: I’m on record averring that I never tell people what to do. But high-volume slick water hydrofracturing of shale gas—fracking—is way bigger than PVC and synthetic fertilizer. THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS can be viewed as a tree with two trunks.

The other trunk represents what we are doing to ourselves and other animals through the chemical adulteration of the planet with inherently toxic synthetic pollutants. At the base of both these trunks is an economic dependency on fossil fuels, primarily coal (plant fossils) and petroleum (animal fossils). Natural gas is the vaporous form of petroleum. N.C. sits on trove of natural gas - Local/State. North Carolina could become the next hot spot in the nation's natural gas bonanza. Natural gas deposits, trapped in prehistoric geological formations, lie buried less than a mile deep throughout parts of Lee, Chatham, Durham, Wake and Orange counties. Geologists estimate the formations cover nearly 1,400 square miles and could contain enough natural gas to supply the state's energy needs for about 40 years at current levels of usage.

North Carolina relies heavily on natural gas to run electric power plants, to fuel industrial operations and to heat homes and offices. "We think it's commercially significant," said James Simons, the state geologist. "These deposits could extend farther than we think. It could be a lot more. " The more natural gas is confirmed, the more frenzied the scramble to cash in. For the time being, state laws that prohibit certain types of drilling as well as uncertainty about the size of the deposits have limited industry interest in North Carolina.