Good discussion of hydraulic fracturing Wednesday at the American Enterprise Institute, which hosted a panel that included Reason magazine science writer Ronald Bailey, University of Wyoming economist Timothy Considine, the Environmental Defense Fund's Mark Brownstein and the Natural Resources Defense Council's Amy Mall. The key takeaways:

• In terms of fracking methods and technology, so-called "best practices" are coming from free-market competition, not the prod of government regulation, Bailey said. Although Brownstein is more of a regulation proponent, he acknowledged government rules aren't always needed to coax innovation.
• Hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania has produced 50,000 new jobs, according to Considine, who authored a 2010 report to API on the impacts of shale gas developmen... more »

More than 5,500 energy workers and private citizens packed the George R. Brown Convention Center as well as two venues in Port Arthur and Corpus Christi today to stand up for jobs and the economy.

With thousands of jobs threatened by the offshore drilling moratorium, proposals for higher energy taxes, and a faltering economic recovery, people whose jobs and livelihoods depend on the oil and natural gas industry came together to send a message to Congress and the administration: They will make their voices heard in Washington and at the ballot box.

As Carroll Robinson of the Houston Citizens Chamber of Commerce told the crowd, the president and members of Congress have forgotten that the 9.2 million U.S. workers supported by the oil and gas industry care about their children's future, abou... more »