To grasp the importance of the revolutionary change in oil and gas drilling sweeping across the United States — and its significance for our economy — just consider how far behind the rest of the world is lagging.

America’s innovative use of energy technology by “petropreneurs” is rejuvenating oil and gas production. Thanks to the combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in shale deposits, along with advances in seismic imaging that allow geologists to examine deposits more than a mile underground, energy resources long presumed to be beyond reach are now being tapped, or at least will be eventually. And it’s happening as a result of something unique about America.