Cuomo said late Monday that he hasn't given a deadline for the state health and environmental conservation commissioners he appointed to advise him on a decision on whether to drill for gas using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which injects a mix of water and chemicals thousands of feet underground to crack open shale and release natural gas.

WSJ: NY senators seek fracking delay to await key study

If environmental paranoiacs can convince politicians to limit or ban the use of controversial hydraulic fracturing techniques required to drill up shale plays, then those excess gas supplies could quickly disappear and prices would soar.

FORBES: To Import Less Oil, U.S. Must Export More Gas

And the main way they do it is through what they call hydraulic fracturing, which after they drill the well bore, they perforate it.

NPR: Drilling for Gas in Dallas-Fort Worth