Advisory panel endorses fracking, with caution

Continued use of hydraulic fracturing in natural-gas drilling has been approved by a U. S. Department of Energy advisory panel "as long as companies disclose more about their practices and monitor their environmental impact," Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post reports. (Associated Press photo by Ralph Wilson)

The panel's report encourages better monitoring of fracking, as the practice is called, and the development of "best practices" across the industry, Eilperin reports."The group offered a different approach to overseeing fracking,"John Deutch, a chemistry professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who chaired the advisory panel, said in an interview. "You measure, you disclose what you measure, and use these measurements to improve the way you operate in the field and reduce your environmental impact."

The report, which a New York Times editorial endorsed as a "sensible" middle ground between environmentalists who would ban fracking and energy interests that see no threat, is separate from the Environmental Protection Agency's study on the environmental and public health effects of fracking. (Read more)