CHANGE: Fracking Brings Manufacturing Back to Rust Belt. “So not only is the U.S. about to take the global lead in oil production; a new piece in the Wall Street Journal reports that the glut of cheap gas, which is difficult and expensive to transport abroad, has made America one of the cheapest places to manufacture many energy-intensive materials. This is particularly true in the Rust Belt states where the gas is extracted, and the area is already beginning to see the results as manufacturers begin to open plants in the region. And with the plants come jobs.” Faster, please.