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Now that the election numbers are in, it’s time to take a brief look at a key element of both the Romney and Obama energy platforms: increased domestic natural gas production. It is generally expected that the Obama administration will continue to push for more oversight and regulation of shale fracking. The April 2012 EPA decision to reduce air emissions from fracking could well be followed by an effort to end exemptions from certain elements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. In the case of the EPA air emissions oversight, the rules were relaxed somewhat, and industry was given two years to bring activities into compliance. In the case of water regulation, the conversation may well continue to drag along slowly for some time to come. In the end, there is only so much regulation...