What is fracking, and why is the process so controversial? What impacts has fracking had on the U.S. supply of oil and on global demand for oil?

What will be an ideal response?

Answers should identify the process of fracking as large-scale extraction in the United States of shale oil and natural gas from remote underground fields. Answers should also identify how energy firms use new technology to fracture underground rock beds in order to allow oil and gas deposits to flow to the surface. Answers should identify the controversies surrounding the process of fracking, including the contribution to climate change resulting from the release of carbon dioxide methane gasses into the air, as well as concerns over deforestation. Answers should identify how by 2015, the United States had surpassed Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest source of oil, and American energy firms also replaced Russia as the world’s most prolific source of natural gas.