Although widely understood as "national" guidelines, the draft rules would in fact only apply to a sliver of the nation's natural gas supply.
One of the key controversies around fracking is the chemical makeup of the fluid that is pumped deep into the ground to break apart rock and release natural gas. Some companies have been reluctant to disclose what's in their fracking fluid.
First proposed in July 2011, the final rules have been welcomed by environmental groups as a much-needed initial move in reducing pollution and protecting public health from the toxic chemicals involved in the oil and natural gas drilling process. But many cautioned it was just a first step.
Natural gas companies can keep drilling per usual, say the Environmental Protection Agency's new rules for hydraulic fracturing or, as everybody who's not a government employee refers to it, "fracking."
Even when he's creating oversight bodies specifically to manage fracking, President Obama still apparently hates using that word.
The New York Times on the U.S.'s energy boom and the fate of nuclear energy, The Guardian on bees, AccuWeather on icebergs, and the Associated Press on seals
Despite cries about high gas prices, the fight over Keystone, and attacks on the administration's energy policies, The New York Times says the United States is actually much closer to energy independence than it has been in decades.
Pennsylvania's state senate has passed a law allowing the state to tax shale gas drilling, so long as local zoning laws don't get in the way of drillers.
As part of a broader strategy to take advantage of our nation's natural gas reserves, President Obama announced plans to offer a tax credit for natural gas-burning trucks at a speech in Las Vegas on Thursday.
The Environmental Protection Agency has weighed in on the fracking debate to say, for the first time, that the controversial practice may contribute to groundwater pollution.
By many measures, North Dakota is one of America's less extraordinary states. Petroleum production is not one of those measures.
An EPA study found cancerous compounds, including one used in hydraulic fracturing to harvest natural gas, in an aquifer in Wyoming, ProPublica reports.
Well assessments may have been incorrect
The new regulations aim to cut down soot and smog emissions at natural gas drilling sites
Confusion around Andrew Cuomo's policies show environmentalists do good viral media
Groundwater contamination isn't usually the stuff of pop hits, but it is now
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