Libertarian law professor Richard Epstein offers his thoughts on extracting natural gas from rock via hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking": "guarded optimism":
A comprehensive strategy combines four elements, which should be arrayed in a two-by-two grid. On one axis, the choice is between a) damages after the fact and b) injunctive relief before the harm has occurred. On the other axis lies the choice between 1) government and 2) private enforcement of remedies. It is not likely that any one of these four cells will remain empty in a comprehensive review of the problem.