What the Frac?!

Ok, so this article made me choke on my morning coffee and I really don't like the story at all. I am posting it because I found myself with a lot to say after reading it, mostly profanities that I will not post.
The Rio Grande Sun ran an article about legislation proposed by Farmington Senator William Sharer. Legislation geared toward punishing Rio Arriba and Santa Fe Counties for their oil and gas ordinances. Sharer's proposed legislation would not only penalize counties for enacting oil and gas ordinances, but would also apply to mining regulation. Sharer can't say what exactly he doesn't like about the ordinances because apparently he hasn't bothered to read them. Hmmm, I'm thinking he doesn't read the national news either and has no idea about the uproar over the NYC watershed. He says he wants "balance" and states that “If you want environmental protection, then we can all live in a mud hut and freeze and die at age 45 with no teeth." Wow. Silly me, I thought that clean water and breathable air were essential to life on earth.
Here is a partial post of the article:


Proposed Legislation Would Punish County for Regulating Drilling

By Joe Crawford
SUN Staff Writer
Published:
Thursday, December 31, 2009 10:51 AM MST
Proposed legislation drafted by a state senator from Farmington would punish Rio Arriba County for its new oil and gas ordinance.

Sen. William Sharer (R-Farmington) introduced a bill Dec. 15 that would penalize counties and municipalities with local laws that have an “onerous effect on extractive industries.” The legislation would keep those local governments from receiving funding from severance tax bonds, which makes up a significant portion of the state’s capital outlay appropriations.

Sharer said the legislation is aimed directly at Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties, which have enacted ordinances the last two years to further regulate the oil and gas industry.

“If you don’t want the production, why should you benefit from the proceeds?” he said.

Sharer’s law would apply to oil and gas drilling as well as mining, according to the bill.

The Rio Arriba County Commission passed an oil and gas ordinance in May in response to plans by Texas-based Approach Resources to drill on 90,000 acres of mineral rights south of the Tierra Amarilla. Drilling had never occurred in the area before. The Commission postponed the first applications from Approach at a meeting Tuesday in Tierra Amarilla. More>>>