It was a political statement made famous during the 2008 presidential campaign as gas prices across the country soared.
"Drill baby drill," said Tom Stewart, Executive Vice President of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association.
Stewart said that industry leaders have not used fancy slogans to promote what may lie underneath the Utica Shale.
"Everybody wants to see results and know what's happening right now," Stewart said. "But oil and gas is not like a light switch that you turn on and off."
More and more energy companies believe that the Utica Shale could contain billions of dollars in oil and natural gas.
The shale lies underneath 47 Ohio counties and some believe that the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, could create thousands of jobs, ONN's Jim Heath reported.
"The entire state will benefit from the jobs that are created primarily for the support industries," Stewart said.
Hydro-fracking is a relatively new technology. Thousands of wells that are drilled to reach gas reservoirs may combine vertical and horizontal sections.
The drills can go down to 8,000 feet and a horizontal well may extend up to two miles.
Stewart said that the millions of pounds of steel and concrete casing protect aquifers and our drinking water.
However, it's the millions of gallons of water used to crack the shale, mixed with sand and some chemical additives, that has environmentalists concerned.
"That is a toxic brew of brine and also heavy metals and toxic chemicals," said Jack Shaner, lobbyist with the Ohio Environmental Council.
Shaner said that companies are moving on the fracking process too quickly and regulators need time to catch up.
"This isn't science fiction and this isn't something Al Gore is making up," Shaner said. "These are real problems on the ground we've seen over and over and over."
One documentary that has been circulated widely on the web made fracking famous when it seemed to show tap water catching on fire.
"That person's faucet connected to that person's water well had natural gas in it long before any oil and gas company showed up," Stewart said. "The track record for oil and gas is frankly sterling."
Shaner doesn't dispute that, but he said that all the evidence is still out and regulators should force fracking to take a break, Heath reported.
"Let's take a couple years if need be. Let's get this right," Shaner said. "That's one reason we've called for a moratorium. We just can't take the industries word that all will be well."
