As hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, transforms America's energy sector and environmental policy, Europe has been reluctant to embrace the drilling technique. Will this reluctance harm the continent's economic growth and emission curbing efforts?
"France and Bulgaria have already banned it, and in Britain the government’s attempts to promote it have led to heated demonstrations in the countryside. It is complicating Germany’s attempts to wean itself from fossil fuels and forcing Russia to recalibrate the energy-export strategy that sustains its economy," writes Steven Erlanger.
"Now the temptation to follow the United States in extracting shale gas from rock on a large scale is presenting Europe with contentious trade-offs that could affect the Continent’s economic competitiveness, test its commitment to curbing climate change and determine its place in a 21st-century version of the Great Game."
FULL STORY: As Drilling Practice Takes Off in U.S., Europe Proves Hesitant
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