On August 8, 2005, at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, President George W. Bush signed into law the Energy Policy Act of 2005.1 The act included an exemption that prohibited regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act of any hydraulic fracturing used for the purpose of oil, natural gas, and geothermal production. This regulatory relief, combined with technological advances in shale extraction, led to significant increases in shale gas production and dramatic reductions in natural gas prices.
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