ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the basic politics of domestic oil and gas production. It includes a brief introduction to what supporters describe as the benefits of production such as additional revenues, employment, energy and national security, and consumer and environmental benefits. The chapter then provides a summary of what activists have charged as the costs of production, including the possibility of environmental degradation, water risks, earthquakes, infrastructure strains, quality of life disruptions, land fragmentations, and boom-bust cycling of natural resources.
