Ohio Strengthens Regulations on Fracking After Earthquakes

Image from source, Raw Story

The conservative line is: regulations are bad. Not over-stringent regulations. Not over-burdensome regulations. Just regulations. As though the main purpose of regulations is to be a burden, to be a hindrance in and of themselves. Conservatives also are--for some reason--pro-fracking. That's the term for a controversial natural gas gathering procedure that involves injecting high-pressure fluid into the earth, and breaking the trapped gas free. There are places where fracking has occurred where home owners' tap water is flammable.

And of course, many experts think it leads to earthquakes. Not just in Ohio of course, but in other parts of the country and in England, that we know of. I've actually read a conservative argument that these earthquakes are good, because they release pressure that would cause a bigger earthquake later! Because conservatives, by-and-large, are experts on geology, apparently.


[Excerpt]

Ohio stiffens regulations after concluding that fracking caused earthquakes

Ohio state regulators announced tough new regulations on Friday after concluding that the injection of wastewater underground as part of the controversial gas-drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” had almost certainly caused a dozen earthquakes near one well. . .

Read more at: Raw Story