The world’s biggest ... fracker

It’s not only toxic — it’s driven by a right-wing billionaire who profits more from flipping land than drilling for gas. Is energy’s latest boon just another scam founded on hot air? Jeff Goodell reports

AUBREY McClendon, America’s second-largest producer of natural gas, has never been afraid of a fight. He has become a billionaire by directing his company, Chesapeake Energy, to blast apart gas-soaked rocks a mile underground and pump the fuel to the surface.

“We’re the biggest frackers in the world,” he declares proudly over a $400 bottle of French Bordeaux at a restaurant he co-owns in his hometown of Oklahoma City. “We frack all the time. What’s the big deal?”