Kevin Begos

Like falling dominoes, the drilling process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is shaking up world energy markets from Washington to Moscow to Beijing. Some predict what was once unthinkable: The U.S. won't need to import natural gas in the near future, and that Russia could be the big loser.

In a surprising turnaround, carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years, and officials say the biggest reason is power plant operators are switching to gas from dirtier-burning coal.