Y esterday, Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill that set North Carolina on a path toward legalized hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” that will be difficult to reverse.
Fracking is an iffy proposition even with comprehensive rules in place, but now energy companies will be able to obtain drilling permits as early as March without any legislative checks. The Mining and Energy Commission has yet to complete about 120 safety rules that need to be in place before companies obtain permits to drill, and the General Assembly will have no say over whether those rules are adequate — or not.
So far, the science on fracking has not been pretty. If performed under ideal conditions, fracking may be done safely, but that has not played out in reality throughout most of the United States where the practice has been legalized.
Instead, fracking has been consistently linked to groundwater contamination due to leaky wells, which can have debilitating effects on health and the environment.
There are too many potential problems with fracking to treat the issue lightly, yet the governor and the General Assembly have acted callously in the last week, throwing away necessary powers of oversight.
Democrats have complained the governor and their Republican colleagues in the legislature have broken their promise in 2012 to ensure strong regulatory rules on fracking before legalizing the practice, and they appear to be correct. Multiple legislators promised the debate that took place in 2012 would not be the last before further action was taken.
But last week the legislation was fast-tracked for approval with little prior public notice and minimal debate.
The legislation includes questionable rules about public disclosure of fracking formulas that appear to be attempts to stifle criticism of the practice. After a deserved public outcry, no one will go to jail for disclosing fracking practices, but the threat of any legal punishment for disclosing information about fracking is absurd.
Throughout this process, the state has acted with a lot more concern for the well-being of energy companies than North Carolina’s citizens.
