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Tuesday, June 2nd, 2015

Fracking Bans Are No Longer Allowed In Oklahoma

Author:     Emily Atkin
Source:     Think Progress
Publication Date:     June 1, 2015 at 12:02 pm
 Link: Fracking Bans Are No Longer Allowed In Oklahoma
Stephan:   If you have been reading SR for a while you know that Oklahoma has become the earthquake center of the U.S. — because of all the fracking. So, not surprisingly, people whose houses are falling down because of these quakes have been trying to protect their property by organizing and passing local fracking bans. But as Red value state voters have discovered when it comes to backing their interests or a corporation's interests there is no contest. The corporations win everytime. Here is proof of this principle. And what is even weirder, I would bet you, Oklahoma voters will re-elect the people who screwed them with a fracking ban. Too bad about your house.
Oklahoma Republican Governor Mary Fallin.

Oklahoma Republican Governor Mary Fallin.

Oklahoma’s towns and cities are no longer allowed to ban fracking under a bill signed into law on Friday by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin.

The new law prohibits localities from choosing whether or not to have oil and gas operations within their jurisdictions, with exceptions for “reasonable” restrictions like noise and traffic issues. Other than that, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission will retain control over oil and gas drilling.

The state commission is run by three elected commissioners, all of whom are Republican. Chairman Bob Anthony is a member of the National Petroleum Council, a group that advises the U.S. Department of Energy on oil and gas industry interests. And Vice Chairman Dana Murphy is a geologist and attorney with “more than 22 years experience in the petroleum industry,” according to her bio page.

Fracking — the process of injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand, and chemicals underground to crack shale rock and release oil and gas — is prolific in Oklahoma, and Fallin said […]

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