I suspect that much of the fear campaign about coal seam gas in NSW is a beat-up, but the gas companies have only themselves to blame. Furtive purchase of drilling rights, mysterious chemicals to be pumped into wells and lack of explanation as to how dirty water will be disposed of lead people (including me) to suspect that if environmental problems arise (such as contamination of drinking water aquifers or poisoning of land round the wells) the companies will be equally furtive. They simply do not have our trust.

They might believe that they are good corporate citizens but they don't come across that way.

This is not a local problem. At last, some people have tried to do something about it. In the US they have set up the Center for Sustainable Shale Development, which is a "collaborative effort of environmental organizations, philanthropic foundations, energy companies and other stakeholders committed to safe, environmentally responsible shale resource development" and claims to provide:

"... the development of rigorous performance standards for sustainable shale development and a commitment to continuous improvement to ensure safe and environmentally responsible development of our abundant shale resources. CSSD will offer an independent, third-party evaluation process to certify companies that achieve and maintain these standards."

It will be interesting to see if it lives up to its name.