What the Frack?

Australia's new $50 billion industry--coal seam gas--carries unprecedented environmental risks, but it could be the path to energy salvation by being cleaner than coal, safer than nuclear energy, and a complement to renewables. While big oil and gas companies believe Australia could be the biggest liquid natural gas exporter in the world, farmers and environmentalists are united in their opposition to coal seam gas extraction from the nation's most fertile agricultural lands. Does interfering with thousands of coal seam gas wells poison food resources? Does coal seam gas really aid in tackling climate change? Where will they drill next? Visiting drill sites, boardrooms, pipelines, parliamentary offices, and farm gate protests, this book demonstrates how coal seam gas extraction may be one boom that is happening too fast.