Not too long ago HBO did a video on this topic and now 60 Minutes does a story. 
Shale, the US has plenty of and it is hailed as an oil solution until green energy solutions get in force full hand, but the processes of getting it and the environmental impact and safety are the question. As you can see from the map below there’s plenty of shale in the US.
Drilling for Natural Gas Documentary – The Effect on Drinking Water and our Health "Gasland"
The big question too is what are the chemicals being used to separate the gas from the rock? Most gas companies are submitting their information to the US 
government, except Halliburton, and they declined so they are subpoenaed to submit. Once again we come back to that same company that seems to think such items pertain to them. The 60 Minute video does the coverage of setting the drinking water on fire so you can see the water contains gas. Certainly some of the people living on the land where shale is below have become instant “Shaleionaires” as it is called but what is the price. Recently I watched an episode of CSI and they had an episode on television with a murder mystery about protecting the companies doing the drilling.
There have been accidents and some have lost their drinking water with an explosion. They have gas in the water and people in the Pennsylvania area are not happy and wonder what the long term health effects will be as some are getting sick taking showers, etc. The company now supplies bottled water for the residents. The area is booming due to the fact that it brought work in with jobs, but again the cost?
Halliburton is a leading fracking company under Vice President Dick Cheney, who used to be Halliburton's CEO. BD
(CBS) Natural gas has always been the ugly stepchild of our national energy debate, never enjoying the political muscle of oil and coal, and never capturing the imagination like solar panels and wind farms. And to top it all off, it was in short supply.
But that is changing, and now this stepchild is being touted as the hope of the future - the answer to our energy problems.
What has brought about the change is there is a new unconventional process for extracting natural gas from shale, a dense rock formation two miles underground. And if you're sitting on top of it, you may become a new American phenomenon: a "shaleionaire."
And yet, if the BP spill taught us anything, it's that exploring for energy has safety risks. But that can get lost in all the excitement.
Energy: The Pros and Cons of Shale Gas Drilling - 60 Minutes - CBS News
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