The hydraulic fracturing, a.k.a. fracking, modern-day gold rush is quickly doing work on our global energy outlook. The improved technology and increased use of the decades-old technique has unlocked hitherto untapped reserves of oil and natural gas, bettering various countries economic opportunities by expanding domestic energy production and decreasing dependence on foreign sources. What’s more, natural gas has the potential to help the world lower their net carbon emissions, as we’ve already done in the United States.

A lot of countries and interest groups have been resistant to allowing fracking, nervous about ostensible environmental concerns, but after extensive studies the world over have failed to present any robust evidence of the many supposed horrors that radical environmental groups claim fracking can produce, a growing number of states and foreign countries are opening themselves up to the revenue, jobs, and wealth creation that other areas are already seeing as a result of the shale gas boom. Britain finally jumped on the bandwagon this past week:

Britain’s government lifted its ban on a controversial mining process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, Thursday, allowing companies to continue their exploration of shale gas reserves. …

“Today’s news is a turning point for the country’s energy future. Shale gas has the potential to create jobs, generate tax revenues, reduce our reliance on imported gas, and improve our balance of payments,” chief executive Francis Egan said in a statement.

In an interview with CNN, Egan insisted that fracking could be done “safely and sensibly” in Britain and that there are huge reserves to be exploited.

The company believes there is about 200 trillion cubic feet of gas under the ground just within its license area in Lancashire. To put that figure into context, the United Kingdom uses about 3 trillion cubic feet of gas a year, Egan said.

France, for instance, is still holding out on allowing energy companies to frack in their country, but it seems like it’s only a matter of time before the undeniable economic benefits begin to outweigh the questionable environmental vagaries — after all, socialist France is shortly going to need all the economic help it can get.