Its gonna happen, and has been happening all over the world for a few years now. The Yanks are almost self sustainable thanks to this. Granted they have mass expanses of uninhabited land to do this, but we don't so we need to do it right. We can't be left behind over this, or we'll suffer the consequences in years to come. All these people protesting are just whining about the damage to their local landscape. They'll also be the first to whine about increased gas costs when the other country who went ahead with fracking, that we are forced to buy from put up their prices! As long as its done sympathetically which government can enforce, everyone should accept it as the best alternative.