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Hydraulic fracturing to enhance gas production is "the best green option of this decade", according to Danish academic Bjorn Lomberg.

"If fracking happens around the world, emissions would likely decline substantially by 2020," he writes in an article published in The Australian.

"In spite of decades of political wrangling, which failed to produce a meaningful global climate policy, it was ironically the US with the shale gas revolution that has cut the most emissions globally.

"Fracking in the US has caused a dramatic transition to natural gas, a fuel which emits 45 per cent less carbon per energy unit [than coal]."

US Energy Information Agency data shows that US carbon dioxide emissions declined by more than 700 million tonnes last year. That's 12 per cent lower than the peak in 2007.

As Lomberg notes: "The shift from coal to natural gas is alone responsible for a reduction of between 400 and 500Mt. In fact, it amounts to twice the reduction the rest of the world has achieved, even under the Kyoto Protocol."

For more on the environmental benefits of fraccing, read this recent article by Harvard University Professor of Capital Formation and Growth, Jeffrey Frankel.

Nothing frustrates the resources sector more than the inability of governments to address the green tape problem.

Global experience shows the best way to grow domestic gas is by letting market forces guide the development and sale of gas.

The next generation of Australian oil and gas projects depends heavily on this country reforming its regulatory framework.

With major gas supply contracts expiring next year, NSW has set a course for higher energy prices.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has found that overall US emissions declined by about 3 per cent from 2010 to 2011 and that this was largely driven by power plants shifting from coal to natural gas.

The EPA's latest report on greenhouse gases (GHGs) also shows a 66 per cent drop from 2010 to 2011 in methane emissions from oil and gas production and distribution.

In other words, not only has gas production driven a fall in US GHG emissions, but as the industry matures gas production itself is becoming less greenhouse-intensive.

The data excludes agriculture, which can be a significant source of methane. The EPA's previous inventory of GHGs, released in 2012, showed enteric fermentation from livestock and manure management were two of the top five sources of methane in the US.

But the bigger picture is certainly good news: greenhouse gas emissions are falling in the US, led in part by the greater use of natural gas.

For a more detailed discussion of the EPA's findings see the Energy in Depth website.

Regions with extensive resources development have higher levels of income and education than other parts of regional Australia.

The best policy response to rising gas prices is to bring more gas to market. Reduce red tape rather than introduce a counterproductive domestic gas reservation policy.

Australia has more than enough natural gas to cover domestic and export needs for more than 80 years.

A United States Geological Survey report released last week confirms hydraulic fracturing does not pose a serious risk to drinking water resources.

The study examined the water quality of 127 shallow domestic wells in the Fayetteville shale in Arkansas – a region with 4000 producing natural gas wells.

Report lead researcher and USGS hydrologist Timothy Kresse stated, "none of the data looked at as part of this study suggests that any groundwater contamination is resulting from natural gas production activities."

This is the latest in a series of credible US government agency reports that have been unable to find any link between fraccing and groundwater contamination.

For a more detailed discussion of the USGS report, see this post from US website Energy In Depth.

When posing as the national interest, self-interest bears close scrutiny. Some companies want domestic gas on special terms.

Industry and government must show urgency in addressing Australia's declining competiveness.

South Australia's new blueprint for developing shale gas and tight gas provides a sound foundation for producing these vast resources and for building public confidence.

Activists' claims that offshore seismic surveys threaten the environment lack substance and ignore history.

The gas industry is ready to assist in new research on fugitive emissions from Australian CSG production.

Manufacturing woes will not be cured by throwing a spanner in the wheel of LNG developments.

Australian LNG faces big opportunities but success must not be taken for granted

Calls for gas producers to subsidise big domestic gas users are prompted by self-interest, not national interest.

Condamine farmer Simon Drury has been on a journey with the CSG industry for more than a decade. On 10 October he told APPEA’s CSG conference how working with the industry is benefitting his family farming business and his local community. An edited transcript follows.

Can the Fair Work Act help Australia's productivity in a time of transformational economic change?