Extracting oil from the earth

Hydraulic fracking is a method of extracting oil from the earth. While many localities have embraced the process as a way of injecting much-needed revenue into the economy, it doesn’t come without its consequences.

Review the following resources about fracking:

Answer the following question for your discussion post:  

Pretend that you are the mayor of a city where an oil company wants to start fracking. What information would you want to know and/or what policies would you put in place when making a decision about whether or not to allow it? Discuss whose opinion weighs more in this situation – the landowners who are making money from the fracking operations (which pumps money into the city’s economy), or the nearby landowners whose property values are diminishing?