And so it begins.
Vermont's governor has signed a bill making it the first U.S. state to ban fracking, the controversial practice to extract natural gas from the ground.
"This is a big deal," Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday. "This bill will ensure that we do not inject chemicals into groundwater in a desperate pursuit for energy."
Shumlin said fracking contaminates groundwater and the science behind it is "uncertain at best." He said he hopes other states will follow Vermont's lead in banning it.
And at Rigzone - "yet another blow has been dealt to energy companies hoping to strike it big as the Czech Republic mulls joining France, Bulgaria and Romania in banning shale gas exploration."
There are no rigs in Vermont. There is no drilling in Vermont. There is no interest in drilling in Vermont. Nobody is leasing in Vermont. When asked about this, as I recall he said "We don't know if we have Natural Gas or not." Well the industry does know these things, and you don't.This is roughly the same as Vermont enacting a law to require that everyone put a big green wooden ball on their roof to scare away the Tigers and the Huffalumps.
h/t Dan
Yes, governor. You might even say it's a big frackin' deal.
"science behind it is "uncertain at best"
The reason used to ban anything. Waiting to make a decision on something when the science is 100% certain (unlike AGW)is obviously beyond their comprehension. More tail wagging the dog. Peter Shumlin is not in charge of his state. Activists are.
It goes without saying that this clown is a Democrat.
Dontcha know?
The science behind solar and wind is certain - the wind blows, the sun shines, electricity for free.
/frack off
I think the neighbouring states are going to be drinking Vermont's milkshake soon.
Interesting that this was cut... in an earlier version of the story they stated the key fact that the Marcellus Shale does not extend into Vermont.
There are no rigs in Vermont. There is no drilling in Vermont. There is no interest in drilling in Vermont. Nobody is leasing in Vermont. When asked about this, as I recall he said "We don't know if we have Natural Gas or not." Well the industry does know these things, and you don't.
This is roughly the same as Vermont enacting a law to require that everyone put a big green wooden ball on their roof to scare away the Tigers and the Huffalumps.
@ Brendan Kelly
Good point. Banning something that they don't actually have going on in their state has proven once again that the left is about ideology over reality. They want to be seen doing something even though there is actually nothing to do. There is no lie they will not use and no scam they will not foist upon the people. I hope Vermont comes to it's senses in the next election and boots all the activist-supporting democrats out of office.
So what do they heat their homes with in Vermont? My guess is Canada's gas that was extracted from fracking!
Brendan Kelly, I am reminded of a Simpsons episode where the sighting of ONE bear unleashed a flurry of expensive anti-bear measures. Lisa pointed out to an incredulous and gullible Homer how silly it all was, even using an allegedly tiger-killing rock as an example of the town's expensive folly.
Sometimes all one can do is sell a tiger-killing rock. Some people just can't be told.
Saskatchewan has to "get on this boat". Let's ban all salmon fishing within our borders.
I wish more U.S. states would ban fracking. The price of natural gas needs to double or Alberta is going to slow down.
I wish more U.S. states would ban fracking. The price of natural gas needs to double or Alberta is going to slow down.
Brendan,
do not give idiots like Shumlin any ideas. Next thing you know, he will require non leg trap, humane, harm free anti-huffalump traps on every house.
It's for the Children!
when groverning has elevated passed the governor's ability to govern!!!
@ Brendan Kelly:
The big wooden ball has to be green? Could that be where I went wrong?
The enviromentalists are misnthropes - they want us to freeze in the dark in caves, naked and eating berries
The enviromentalists are misnthropes - they want us to freeze in the dark in caves, naked and eating berries
"This bill will ensure that we do not inject chemicals into groundwater in a desperate pursuit for energy."
No, this is their idea of a desperate pursuit of energy.
http://quixoteslaststand.com/2012/04/30/vermont-mountains-decapitated-and-deforested-to-save-the-planet/
"science behind it is "uncertain at best"
Wait a minute. Are we talking about Global Warming?
And Vermont's "finest" would be more than glad to enforce that law requiring "everyone put a big green wooden ball on their roof to scare away the Tigers and the Huffalumps". May every one of them rot where they belong for what they have done to this country. ESPECIALLY during National Police Week.
To be fair, the notion of banning something that has no bearing on a particular state also came up a while ago when a number of US states with miniscule Muslim populations decided to enact legislation to ban the exercise of shariah law in their courtrooms. At that time the left rightly (and sarcastically) asked what the relevance of such legislation could be, but they missed the point. Both then and now the move is meant to express an ideological alignment, that is, an expression of principle rather than for practical effect.
Meanwhile, in Ontario, Dildo McDinky has drafted legislation that will compel school-boards to teach kindergarteners about the dangers of un-protected fracking.
There is plenty of shale around here. There is a formation in Quebec not too far from here. It just may not be dense enough in hydrocarbons to attract economic interest. Fine, leave it in the ground til the price goes up.
My home is on clay over a bedrock of shale and I noticed, this spring, little bubbles coming up under a skim of ice in a puddle in my driveway. Maybe I should drop a match in the dug well out back and see what happens?
"This is a big deal,
we do not inject chemicals into Vermont groundwater in a desperate pursuit for energy."
-
Nether does Haiti.
Byzantium.....If they wait until it's relevant...it's too late
I understand that Arizona is going to ban shark fishing in response.
As usual Toronto is well ahead of the game. Decades ago they declared the city to be a nuclear free zone.
Vermont's governor is a safe frack denier.
Also if they in time did discover that a trillion or so mcf of gas pay beneath burlington his opinion would likely change.
The upside of this is the VOTERS in Vermont get to see what a complete jackass they have elected.
If they don't see the problem ... then they completely deserve what they got.
Greenies are winning the propaganda war again. Didn't take them long this time, did it? Couple of successful wells start producing in the Eastern region, couple stories about the "new" (20 year old) technology breakthrough, SHAZAM! Vermont bans it.
Ladies and gentlemen, we -really- need to bankrupt these media companies. If they get what they want, we are all going to be walking to work in the fields.
Robert of Ottawa "The enviromentalists are misnthropes - they want us to freeze in the dark in caves, naked and eating berries"
Just make sure there are no pesticides or non-natural fertilizers used on those berries.
Ottawa Robert: Don't forget that the berries have to be organic and sustainably harvested.
Ottawa Robert: Don't forget that the berries have to be organic and sustainably harvested.
Like the road signs when driving into Vancouver that state "this is a nuclear-free zone". Asshat leftards.
IDIOCRACY!
Yeah well, at least Vermont will not issue permits1 for conceal carry.....ya just don't need one...permit that is....
Saskatchewan has to "get on this boat". Let's ban all salmon fishing within our borders.
Posted by: rmgk at May 18, 2012 1:52 AM
Good humor, rmgk. The Yukon could 'get on that boat' too - ban all deep sea fishing...oh wait...the 'back to the stone age hoards' DO want to make the small strip of the Arctic ocean, owned by the Yukon, 'rig free'; it is only a small step....
Easy to pass up jobs and money that will never exist.
Ohio just passed a law giving the green light with a minimal amount of regulation. I love what Senator Bill Seitz said before the vote
After reciting the lyrics to the Beverly Hillbillies he said
"Folks, we can talk all day and all night for the next five years about all the possible things that could go wrong, but we are sitting on a mountain of resources.
"It's time to quit worrying about it, and it's time to do it. That means send those drills down, send those plugs down, send those spuds down and whatever else we're talking about.
"We're sitting on a mountain of money. People who have been poor as church mice for 150 years are now going to be the latter day Jed Clampett."
It passed.
That's OK. In Alberta, to demonstrate our "green" bona fides, we've banned offshore drilling. So there.
kelly "driving into Vancouver that state "this is a nuclear-free zone". Asshat leftards."
Sure it is - until the federal government decides it isn't. If the cities use most of the electricity the cities can have the plants.
In Northern Alberta they bitch to have industrial plants built out of town and then bitch because the town doesn't get any property tax money.
They better pray that those nuke plants 100 miles away in Washington don't decide to melt down.
BC maintains a long standing moratorium on Uranium and offshore oil exploration. BC has both but won't allow you to look for either one. BC wins the prize for Left Coast Fantasy land.
"Saskatchewan has to "get on this boat". Let's ban all salmon fishing within our borders.
Posted by: rmgk at May 18, 2012 1:52 AM"
I wholeheartedly agree. However, I would like to see much more than a ban on salmon fishing.
I have long been concerned about a number of important issues here in Sask. which the government has ignored up to this point.
- destruction of habitat for penguins, koalas, saltwater crocodiles and Tasmanian Devils
- unauthorized dredging of bodies of water for purposes of establishing deep water ports
- unsupervised mountain climbing
- unfettered draining of mangrove swamps
I think I'll drop a note to my MLA.
Just as Brendon Kelly says...
I believe Vermont is known as "The Granite State".
No drilling for shale gas anyway, the governor is a posturing git.
Here in Ontario McGuinty is going to ban moonshots. No rocket launch pads. He'll only allow space flights to originate in this province if they're powered by giant fans.
I expected better from the Czeks. The Ukraine will compensate they are looking to massively increase energy output in a short time span.
To paraphrase George Carlin:
A retarded politician in Vermont has locked himself in a room.
Nobody is paying him any attention.
Is Vermont really a part of the USA. It always struck me as one of those old Soviet states set a drift.
Oh, I hope they discover natural gas and oil shale in Vermont, and I hope they sit on it for years, while the rest of the country gets rich off fracking.
I expect that someone already suggested this, but the Luddite left is bound and determined to roll back technology and standard of living to 1700s standards.
Sexton:
New Hampshire is the "Granite State". Vermont is the "Green Mountain State".
Don't anyone hold their breath that Vermont will suddenly start electing Republicans. This is the state that regularly returned Bernie Sanders, the only avowed Socialist in the US congress, to the House from 1990 to 2006, when Vermont upped the ante and made him a Senator.
As Tim could attest, southern Vermont is full of relatively well to do people who made their money in New York or Boston, and then moved to Vermont's bucolic paradise, bringing their urban liberalism with them. Of course, it's much easier to have an urban liberal mentality in a mostly rural state whose residents self-identify 96.6% as "white only" - the highest such figure in the US of A. (Not that I'm pulling a Derbyshire, mind you; I'm just sayin'.)