When you’ve lost the debate on the merits, you have to change the subject and hope no one calls you on it. At least, that’s the lesson we’ve learned from opponents of hydraulic fracturing, whose talking points on everything from water contamination to air emissions and earthquakes have been consistently debunked. Recognizing a lack of credibility in their own arguments, anti-fracking activists have begun leveraging the term “fracked gas” – as if natural gas produced from shale is chemically or otherwise different (read: more dangerous) than so-called “conventional” natural gas.

Of course, those of us interested in accuracy know this just flat out isn’t true. Natural gas produced through hydraulic fracturing is the same natural gas that has safely heated homes and fueled electric power stations for decades. The term “fracked gas” is thus nothing more than a red herring, designed entirely to instill fear and uncertainty about a clean-burning fuel that has played — and will continue to play — a critical role in America’s affordable energy mix.

In the video above, we untangle the myth of “fracked gas” as it’s currently being deployed by opponents of responsible oil and gas development.