Yesterday, EARTHWORKS launched the Texas Oil and Gas Accountability Project  – a new watchdog to keep an eye on the drilling industry in the Barnett Shale of north central Texas.Texas OGAP also released DRILL RIGHT TEXAS, a guide to gas extraction best practices.

Like its cousin, the Marcellus Shale gas play that underlies most of the north central Appalachian Mountains including New York and Pennsylvania, the Barnett Shale contains vast reserves of natural gas that recently became economic to extract. 

The reason it's now economic: a relatively new drilling technique called horizontal hydraulic fracturing.

You may have heard that natural gas is better for the environment than other fossil fuels. When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, that is true – certainly when compared to coal. But – and it's a big but – when it comes to local impacts, natural gas extraction/processing/transport as currently practiced is not something you'd wish on your worst enemy, or their drinking water.