A major new factor—unconventional natural gas—is moving to the fore in the US energy scene and the national energy discussion. It is also of growing significance in Canada. It was only proved out over the course of the first decade of the twenty-first century. The scale was not even really recognized until 2007–08; and it did not enter the US national energy discussion until the second half of 2009. And yet it ranks as the most significant energy innovation so far this century—and one that, because of its scale, requires a reassessment of expectations for energy development. It has the potential, at least, to cause a paradigm shift in the fueling of North America’s energy future.