Exxon is sufficiently concerned about the legislation that its merger agreement with XTO allows the company to back out of the deal if Congress makes hydraulic fracturing illegal or "commercially impracticable."
The grassroots opposition the industry faces was on display here on a recent Tuesday afternoon, when more than 50 people filled the community room of the public library in this town of 2,500 just outside of Syracuse, N.Y. As local environmental leaders talked about the thousands of acres of local land that had been leased for drilling, Syracuse resident Larry Paul shook his head.
"I don't trust the industry," Mr. Paul said after the meeting. "This is a disaster waiting to happen."
Still, Mr. Pope, of the national Sierra Club, said many of the same people who complain about drilling are using oil, gas and coal produced elsewhere -- often at a greater environmental cost.
"Will the 20% of the membership that happens to live in places where drilling is happening be unhappy?" he asked. "I'm sure that's true."
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