This weekend I spent many hours learning about hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as "fracking". I watched Gasland, Fracknation, and read pages and pages of articles, reports, and regulations.
There is a lot of FUD on both sides, but it seems clear there is a realistic probability that gas extraction has negative health impacts in a non-trivial number of communities. This probability, especially given the bad track record of the oil and gas industry, should be sufficient to justify more caution than is currently being applied.
I don't trust the US EPA. I am sure they have good individual people, but as an organisation they appear crippled by budget cuts and political pressure. The US government made an explicit bipartisan decision with the 2005 Energy Policy Act to reduce regulatory oversight on fracking, enabling companies to move faster with possibly dangerous technology. This is inexcusable. Gas prices in the US are less than half most of the world. Slow down.
Many farmers want drilling on their land