How Fracking Changed the World

Pump jacks at dawn in an oil field over the Monterey Shale formation, where gas and oil extraction using hydraulic fracturing is on the verge of a boom on March 24, 2014, near Lost Hills, CA

Fracking has vociferous critics and fervent defenders, but the debate between these camps has obscured the actual story: Fracking has become a fixture of the American landscape and the global economy. Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Russell Gold looks at how this has happened and how it’s changing the environment and the world. His book The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World is based on 10 years of reporting.