Oct 05, 2015
After a a number of local communities enacted temporary moratoriums on oil and natural gas development, including fracking, the Republican-led North Carolina government issued a resounding response: Drillers welcome!
A last-minute markup passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory last week "renders 'invalidated and unenforceable' local ordinances that place conditions on fracking that go beyond those restrictions drafted by state oil-and-gas regulations," the Winston-Salem Journal reported on Monday.
The vote occurred just days after a local body in Stokes County, N.C. passed a three-year fracking moratorium, following the lead of a number of other municipalities that are hoping to stave off exploration into their oil and gas reserves.
Brooks Rainey Pearson, a staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the provision was "passed in the dead of night, having never received a committee hearing or vetting of any kind."
"This is yet another example of the state attempting to lure the fracking industry to North Carolina over the objection of those who would be most directly impacted," Pearson added.
The argument as to whether a community has the right to protect itself from potentially dangerous and toxic industries is also being waged in Colorado, where state lawmakers have attempted to ban local fracking ordinances.
No one is coming to save us. Join with us.
The world is a pretty dark place right now. Economic inequality off the charts. The climate emergency. Supreme Court corruption in the U.S. and corporate capture worldwide. Democracy in many nations coming apart at the seams. Fascism threatens. It’s enough to make you wish for some powerful being to come along and save us. But the truth is this: no heroes are coming to save us. The only path to real and progressive change is when well-informed, well-intentioned people—fed up with being kicked around by the rich, the powerful, and the wicked—get organized and fight for the better world we all deserve. That’s why we created Common Dreams. We cover the issues that corporate media never will and lift up voices others would rather keep silent. But this people-powered media model can only survive with the support of readers like you. Can you join with us and donate right now to Common Dreams’ Mid-Year Campaign? |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
After a a number of local communities enacted temporary moratoriums on oil and natural gas development, including fracking, the Republican-led North Carolina government issued a resounding response: Drillers welcome!
A last-minute markup passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory last week "renders 'invalidated and unenforceable' local ordinances that place conditions on fracking that go beyond those restrictions drafted by state oil-and-gas regulations," the Winston-Salem Journal reported on Monday.
The vote occurred just days after a local body in Stokes County, N.C. passed a three-year fracking moratorium, following the lead of a number of other municipalities that are hoping to stave off exploration into their oil and gas reserves.
Brooks Rainey Pearson, a staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the provision was "passed in the dead of night, having never received a committee hearing or vetting of any kind."
"This is yet another example of the state attempting to lure the fracking industry to North Carolina over the objection of those who would be most directly impacted," Pearson added.
The argument as to whether a community has the right to protect itself from potentially dangerous and toxic industries is also being waged in Colorado, where state lawmakers have attempted to ban local fracking ordinances.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
After a a number of local communities enacted temporary moratoriums on oil and natural gas development, including fracking, the Republican-led North Carolina government issued a resounding response: Drillers welcome!
A last-minute markup passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory last week "renders 'invalidated and unenforceable' local ordinances that place conditions on fracking that go beyond those restrictions drafted by state oil-and-gas regulations," the Winston-Salem Journal reported on Monday.
The vote occurred just days after a local body in Stokes County, N.C. passed a three-year fracking moratorium, following the lead of a number of other municipalities that are hoping to stave off exploration into their oil and gas reserves.
Brooks Rainey Pearson, a staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the provision was "passed in the dead of night, having never received a committee hearing or vetting of any kind."
"This is yet another example of the state attempting to lure the fracking industry to North Carolina over the objection of those who would be most directly impacted," Pearson added.
The argument as to whether a community has the right to protect itself from potentially dangerous and toxic industries is also being waged in Colorado, where state lawmakers have attempted to ban local fracking ordinances.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.