The U.S. shale boom and efforts by other countries to exploit their shale resources could reshape energy and environmental landscapes across the world. But how might those landscapes change? Will countries with significant physical reserves try to exploit them? Will they protect or harm local communities and the global climate? Will the benefits be shared or retained by powerful interests? And how will these decisions be made? ??????????? The Shale Dilemma brings together experts working at the forefront of shale gas issues on four continents to explain how countries reach their decisions on shale development. Using a common analytical framework, the authors identify both local factors and transnational patterns in the decision-making process. Eight case studies reveal the trade-offs each country makes as it decides whether to pursue, delay, or block development. Those outcomes in turn reflect the nature of a country’s political process and the power of interest groups on both sides of the issue. The contributors also ask whether the economic arguments made by the shale industry and its government supporters have overshadowed the concerns of local communities for information on the effects of shale operations, and for tax policies and regulations to ensure broad-based economic development and environmental protection. ??????????? As an informative and even-handed account, The Shale Dilemma recommends practical steps to help countries reach better, more transparent, and more far-sighted decisions.

Acknowledgments Introduction: The Shale Dilemma/Shanti Gamper-Rabindran Part I The United States 1. Mixed Fortunes: The Risks and Rewards of Developing Shale Gas/Shanti Gamper-Rabindran 2. Should Benefits and Costs Be Spread More Evenly?: Political Battles over Local Government Powers, Taxation, Regulation, and Disclosure /Shanti Gamper-Rabindran Part II Europe 3. The United Kingdom: To Develop or Not to Develop? One Nation or Localization?/Jim Skea 4. Poland: Disappointed Expectations: Energy Security vs. Bureaucracy and Geology/Michael Labelle 5. France: The Power of Public Opposition: From Permits to Protests to Bans/Patrice Geoffron 6. Germany: The German Energiewende and the Decision to Ban Unconventional Hydraulic Fracturing/Miranda A. Schreurs Part III Emerging Economies 7. China: Replacing Coal with Shale GasP: Could Reducing China's Regional Air Pollution Lead to More Local Pollution in Rural China?/Alvin Lin 8. Argentina: Energy Extraction and Communities: Can Shale Development Proceed without Causing Pollution and Conflicts?/María Florencia Saulino 9. South Africa: Trying Not to Repeat History: Are Shale Gas Development and Broad-Based Economic Development Compatible?/Barry Morkel and Maarten De Wit Conclusion: How and Why Countries Decide on Shale, and How They Can Make Better Decisions/Shanti Gamper-Rabindran Contributors Index