The Story of Fracking: American Ingenuity in a Time of Crisis

A fracking site situated on the outskirts of the oil town of Midland, Texas, in January 2016. The controversial fossil fuel extraction technique is a result of American ingenuity at at time when the United States was facing an energy crisis, and has lead to greater energy independence. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Commentary

Open-minded people, a breed that seems in danger of going extinct, sometimes ask me how I feel about oil and gas production utilizing hydro-fracturing techniques, commonly referred to as “fracking.”