ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the significant changes that fracking has brought to global energy markets, presents scientific evidence of the negative environmental impacts associated with this new extraction technique, and reviews previous research on related public debates in Europe and North America. It then offers a historical review of British Columbia’s natural gas industry, explicating the structural constraints that led to the province’s previous unsuccessful attempts to connect with Asian markets. Overall, the chapter’s content contextualizes the economic, political, and social factors motivating British Columbia Liberal Government’s ambition of developing an export-oriented liquefied natural gas industry.
