Gasland

Josh Fox, the director of Gasland is back with this 18 minute short film that follows up on the reactions to his Academy Award nominated film and documents the latest developments in hydraulic fracturing.

The New York State Assembly has approved a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing -- a controversial type of natural gas exploration -- until May, 2011.

Hydraulic fracturing, also know as "fracking", releases the natural gas contained in rock by injecting a mix of chemicals and copious amounts of water into rock formations.  The new extraction technique makes natural gas a much easier and cheaper commodity to be produced.

XTO Energy, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), is under investigation by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) after a 13,000 gallon hydraulic fracturing fluid spill at XTO Energy's natural gas drilling site in Penn Township, Lycoming County, PA.

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) is in the hotseat for refusing to provide details to the Environmental Protection Agency on chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing – a widely used technique to boost production in natural gas wells by injecting high pressure water, sand and chemicals to break up surrounding bedrock.