While watching the turmoil in Ukraine unfold, you may feel as though it has little to do with the United States, but the conflict is stirring a contentious debate in Europe over a topic familiar to many Americans: fracking.
Much of the continent depends on Russian natural gas that flows through pipelines in Ukraine. European countries are asking themselves whether to follow the U.S. example and drill for shale gas.
In Lancashire in northern England, local anti-fracking groups had been campaigning against shale gas long before the discord in Ukraine made headlines, distributing leaflets and holding public meetings. With several shale gas wells planned for this and other counties, Britain has become a flashpoint for fracking, or hydraulic fracturing — the controversial method of pumping water and chemicals deep into shale deposits to release natural gas. Local resident Anne Fielding is determined to stop them.
"People don't know what's going to happen," Fielding says. "They don't know about the level of pollution and a lot of our information that's come from America has been really frightening."
Many Europeans regard the U.S. boom in shale gas with trepidation. While France and Bulgaria have even banned fracking, others look at the U.S. with envy, says Julian Lee of the Centre for Global Energy Studies in London.
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