The Ecologist   More articles about Related Articles  Special
report US natural gas drilling boom linked to pollution and
social strife  Jim Wickens  30th November, 2010   It is a
timeless patchwork of small dairy farms and endless hills,
emblazoned with the blood-red tints of an autumnal Pennsylvania
forest. Set against this sleepy backdrop, however, the constant
convoys of water trucks rumbling along the deserted country
roads suggest something profound is taking place. This is
fracking country, the latest frontier in America’s desperate
search for fossil fuels.   It's almost divine intervention.
Right at the time oil prices are skyrocketing, we’re struggling
with the economy, we’re concerned about global warming, and
national security threats remain intense, we wake up and we’ve
got this abundance of natural gas around us, said Aubrey
McClendon in 2008, CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, one of
the leading gas companies drilling today.   Little Texas  They
call us little Texas, says Norma Fiorentino, sp