Australia has a new $60
billion-plus industry. Suddenly it seems, coal seam gas is being found
everywhere: under homes, under farms, under forests. Communities across the
country are up in arms and governments are scrambling to satisfy competing
demands for affordable energy with protection of our land and water. Big oil and gas companies hope Australia will soon
be the biggest liquid natural gas exporter in the world, but Greenies and
farmers are united in their opposition to coal seam gas extraction, especially
on our most fertile agricultural land.


In this brilliant account,
journalist and energy expert Paddy Manning unpicks the coal seam gas extraction
story, visiting drill sites, boardrooms, pipelines, parliamentary offices and
angry farm-gate protests. It seems that coal seam gas extraction may be one
boom that's happening too fast.