Bestselling author Bethany McLean reveals the true story of fracking's impact—on Wall Street, the economy and geopolitics

The technology of fracking in shale rock—particularly in the Permian Basin in Texas—has transformed America into the world's top producer of both oil and natural gas. The U.S. is expected to be "energy independent" and a "net exporter" in less than a decade, a move that will upend global politics,

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Uses the extraordinary account of how the biggest private company in the world grew to be that big to tell the story of modern corporate America. The annual revenue of Koch Industries is bigger than that of Goldman Sachs, Facebook, and U.S. Steel combined. Koch is everywhere: from the fertilizers that make our food to the chemicals that make our pipes to the synthetics that make our carpets and diapers to the Wall Street trading in all these commodities....

"Bill McKibben is not a person you'd expect to find handcuffed in the city jail in Washington, D.C. But that's where he spent three days in the summer of 2011, after leading the largest civil disobedience in thirty years to protest the Keystone XL pipeline. A few months later the protesters would see their efforts rewarded when President Obama agreed to put the project on hold. And yet McKibben realized that this small and temporary victory was at...

This is the unknown story of secret negotiations between the Taliban and America to build a pipeline through Afghanistan. When America invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the stated aim was to dismantle Al-Qaeda, denying it a safe base of operations by removing the Taliban from power. But Al-Qaeda claimed that the attack on the Twin Towers was a response to the Bush administration's threats to attack Afghanistan if its demands for pipeline rights were not...

The fossil fuel industry's history of casting doubt and delaying action on climate change.

After centuries of Western domination, the waterways of the Middle East are now being contested in unprecedented ways. Pirates are roaming sea lanes. Local powers are threatening chokepoints. And the people are rising up to bring their authoritarian rulers down. With no simple solutions for maintaining control of oil flows, the West is facing a crucial decision. Already weakened by extended military interventions, faltering economies, and strained...

Blending together natural history, architecture, chemistry, and politics, a senior conservation ecologist presents a roadmap for renewing economic growth, revitalizing communities, and creating a sustainable environment.

"Fracking has vociferous critics and fervent defenders, but the debate between these camps has obscured the actual story: Fracking has become a fixture of the American landscape and the global economy. It has upended the business models of energy companies around the globe, and it has started to change geopolitics and global energy markets in profound ways. Gold tells the story of this once-obscure oilfield technology--a story with an incredible cast...