On Friday, the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission -- charged with deciding whether and how to allow fracking in the state -- selected Jim Womack to serve as their chairman.

The retired army lieutenant colonel and Lee County commissioner said he feels his engineering and political background will help him lead the group.

"I believe that I have all the necessary credentials that I think are going to be necessary to understand the enormous regulatory bureaucracy that we're dealing with in making this industry have an opportunity come to North Carolina."

There's about two years until the regulatory frame work for natural gas extraction through hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", in North Carolina must be in place.