This book considers the driving elements behind the benefits and costs of climate protection via Kyoto or similar international agreements that follow.

High volume hydraulic fracturing of deep shale deposits has transformed the oil and gas industry, catapulting the United States (U.S.) into the biggest oil and natural gas producer in the world, surpassing Russia as of June 2015. Hydraulic fracturing has been a game changer providing an important measure of energy independence for the U.S. As one expert put it, "Shale deposits are a gift from God." Hydraulic fracturing operations in North Dakota, in the Marcellus formation in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, and in multiple other states are the subject of increased media, public, and...