The development of natural gas through a process known as hydraulic fracturing is a priority of the President’s for 2012. As our Washington Bureau reporter Erin Billups explains, as more attention is focused on fracking, more pressure will be placed on the Obama administration from fracking advocates and opponents.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Despite concerns voiced by the environmental community, President Obama says drilling for natural gas under rock formations by a method known as hydraulic fracturing can be done safely.

“It was like finally!" said Rayola Dougher, American Petroleum Institute Economic Advisor.

It's a nod the oil and gas industry says is long overdue. But the benefits of a presidential endorsement, they say, has its downside.

"He's saying all the right things, but on the other hand, we say, now wait a minute, there are eight different federal agencies right now looking at new rules and regulations. You make it very, very difficult to operate in these states. One size does not fit all," Dougher said.

The president has directed the Department of Interior to develop a disclosure rule for companies looking to frack on public lands, a White House official saying it’s an area where the administration can show leadership. The Environmental Protection Agency is studying the effects of fracking on water and the Department of Energy is currently compiling a scientific report on the safest drilling techniques. They say it’s not to bog states down, but to help.

"Our job is to make sure that we're bringing some scientific rigor and some scientific focus in that the resources that we have here, really have the potential to do things that are really useful to state level regulators," said Christ Smith, Department of Energy Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil and Gas.

Those concerned about the public health and environmental effects of fracking want the administration to be aggressive in its scrutiny.

"It absolutely has to be done with the greatest bit of science applied," said New York State Representative Paul Tonko.

It's a debate that continually grows more contentious. Just this week, the director of a well-known documentary that warns of the dangers of fracking was arrested after refusing to leave a GOP led congressional hearing on the issue.

The Obama administration, meanwhile, finds itself in the middle, trying to balance protection of public health and the environment, with the demand for job creation in a struggling economy.

Smith said, "We've got this great natural resource, potential for creating up to 600,000 new jobs here in the U.S., over a hundred years of supply, potentially. But something we have to get right from an environmental standpoint, from a safety standpoint."