Obama Negotiating an Agreement That Could Unleash Fracking Around the World

You may remember a few months back Quebec, Canada imposed a moratorium on the exploration for shale gas in the St. Lawrence River valley after a Fracking company proposed to drill under the river! The bill would prohibit Fracking for five years or until new regulations on shale gas exploration are in place.   The Frackers are now suing Canada for $250-million (For protecting its citizens), as a result of Quebec's moratorium on fracking! The statement of claim filed Sept. 6 says the company "expended millions of dollars and considerable time and resources" on the project and that the Quebec government was "arbitrary" and "capricious" in revoking the rights even before an environment study on the fracking process was completed. The company estimates there are between 1.9 trillion and 3.3 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas trapped in the shale in the area covered by the suit, the equivalent of about half of Canada's total annual production.   Scenarios like this one could start playing out all over Europe and the United States if another trade deal, currently being negotiated, goes through. It would be the largest in the world: the transatlantic free trade agreement, knitting together the United States and Europe in a major trade network that could have massive repercussions on our environment (among other things) and lead to a fracking boom!