Fracking Ban Moves Forward in House and Senate
March 26th, 2019 by Jake StofanA House committee approved a proposed ban on fracking Tuesday morning, but the legislation ironically faced opposition from the petroleum industry and some environmentalists.
The ban applies to two forms of fracking, but does not address a third, known as matrix acidizing.
Environmentalists call it an intentional loophole, but bill sponsor Rep. Holly Raschein says it’s a necessary compromise, because the technique has applications outside of fracking.
“A lot of folks again, use that to clean out water wells, the oil and gas industry use it for exploration… Anything that we do or we move forward on we do not want to have unintended consequences. That’s something that we really try to avoid in the Legislature,” said Raschein.
The Senate companion bill passed its first committee stop this afternoon. It also includes language that would ban oil drilling in the Everglades, while the House bill addresses only fracking.
Posted in State News | No Comments »