Conflicting Environmental and Economic Balance The United States has been a leader with the conservative use of fossil fuels in conjunction with environmentally safe practices. Many foreign countries fossil fuel production does not compare nor does it come close to the stringent environmental policies that the United States imposes on domestic fossil fuel production. It is these policies that have driven the U. S. to be dependent on foreign fossil fuel supplies. Environmentally speaking, this is a double edge sword. The production of fossil fuels can harm the environment on foreign soil, or it can have a local impact if domestic fossil fuel production goes unregulated. While the push for cleaner energy production is in full swing, United States shale oil and gas production is one that has resulted in conflicting local environmental choices and economic impacts.

President Barack Obama recent remarks on his climate change speech is one that delivers cleaner green energy, at a reduced cost, with positive environmental impacts. It also calls for more aggressive domestic energy practices to ensure we can meet the initiatives intended goals. Yet, U.S. Shale oil and gas production was not mentioned nor included within the climate change speech. One may ask why this is important. The importance comes in the form of transparency, to look at all of the U.S. energy resources production practices the same way. What exactly is Shale oil and gas production and why should we care?

The U.S. has an abundance of Shale oil fields that have recently produced gas and oil products that rival prominent oil countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia. It will continue to do so and add a significant boost to U.S. economy. (Morse, 2014) This has resulted in the U.S not being dependent on foreign oil as much as it used to. Additionally, the consumer also pays less for oil based