Over the past couple of years, the word fracking has been thrown around in the media, whether it was mentioned in the news or in the movie Matt Damon starred in called called "Promised Land". Many people know it as a method of extracting gas from the earth and don't think further about what fracking actually is. Before explaining this process, we need to understand why it has become prevalent over the past decade. The reason fracking has become so popular over the past two years is due to the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which closed the Halliburton loophole. The Halliburton breach stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing (New York Times 2009). Allowing hydraulic fracturing allowed companies to finally legally access abundant sources of natural gas. This act provided access to the vast quantities of natural gas contained in the Marcellus Shale, which created a boom in hydraulic fracturing. What exactly is hydraulic fracturing? Hydraulic fracturing is a method of extracting oil and gas that is not accessible through conventional drilling methods. The process injects chemically treated water and sand at high pressure into shale rock to release oil and gas (Pritchard 2013). In the documentary Gasland, Josh Fox's main concerns regarding fracking were that the industry was very unregulated and reckless, which caused the contamination of soil and drinking water that was causing the disease. Josh's biggest concern was that fracking was causing contamination of the soil and people's drinking water. He claims that hydraulic fracturing produces gases such as methane and heavy metals such as mercury, uses...... middle of paper ......Real Gasland - Full Movie [HD]." YouTube. YouTube, June 12, 2012. Web, May 6, 2014. "Truthland: Dispatches from Real Gasland - Full Movie [HD]." Movie The Facts Comments. IPAA, 2012. Web. 06 May 2014. Mooney, Chris. “The Truth About Hydraulic Fracturing.” Scientific American 305.5 (2011): 80-85. Print. Osborn, SG, A. Vengosh, NR Warner and RB Jackson. “Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas well drilling and hydraulic fracturing.” » Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108.20 (2011): 8172-176. Pritchard, Joshua “Overview of Hydraulic Fracturing.” " Salem Press Encyclopedia (2013): Research Starters. Web. May 5, 2014. " The Halliburton Loophole. " New York Times November 3, 2009: A28 (L). Biography in Context. Web. May 5 2014.