Today North Carolina Fracking (Senate Bill 786): The bill passed the state legislature and was signed into law by Governor McCrory. Lawmakers broke the promise they made in 2012 (and again in 2013) to have the finished package of fracking rules in front of them before deciding whether to allow fracking in North Carolina. As passed, Senate Bill 786 also makes it a CRIME (details here) for those with access to the fracking recipe to reveal what chemicals are used in the drilling process.
Also in tandem with this bill, there was a item on Air Quality Monitors: State leaders introduced a provision that would remove half of the state’s air quality monitors. The Senate has already approved the provision and it could pop up in any of the regulatory reform bills currently making their way through the legislature. Removing these monitors limits the amount of information the state and residents will have available to protect themselves from unhealthy levels of air pollution.
In a recent Huff Post report " Flawed Fracking Air Pollution Data Is Hindering EPA Efforts To Police Drilling, New Report Says "
"Oil and gas production, from the well site to processing plants to storage tanks and transmission lines, releases toxic and cancer-causing air pollutants, smog-forming gases and methane, a potent greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.
The oil and gas industry has said the EPA has overestimated emissions of methane and argued that they already were working to reduce pollution, without the agency's intervention."
In a shocking exposé in
Eco Watch it was revealed from a Greenpeace leaked
cache of emails That In North Carolina,
Halliburton and other fracking industry interests
helped write the fracking chemical disclosure bill. Whether this current attempt is a deliberate attempt to hinder
EPA supervision of the North Carolina Fracking industry remains to be seen.
Ether way, today the North Carolina Legislator flirted dangerously close to criminal negligence concerning the well being and safety of the citizenry of North Carolina. Most of what was passed today was right out of the Koch funded ALEC play book on Corporate polluter protection..