Op-Ed Looks at the Risks For Communities That Ban Fracking

By -
Do fracking bans violate
landowners' consitutional rights?
From the Institute for Policy Innovation comes an op-ed discussing the fine line that communities walk when they decide to ban fracking.  Here is a portion:
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, in part, that private property cannot be taken for public use “without just compensation.” Historically, that provision comes into play when a city or county government wants private land to build a public road. If a landowner won’t sell voluntarily, the government can “take” it through eminent domain, but still has to pay. Sometimes a government may let the owner keep most of the property but pay the individual the difference between its current value and the estimated reduced value after the road is built. 
Government regulations that substantially reduce the value of an owner’s property may also constitute a taking, according to the Supreme Court. For example, suppose a family buys expensive, beachfront property, and the government later prohibits its development. This would reduce the value of the land. The owners may be entitled to compensation. 
With respect to oil and gas drilling, there is a precedent for when the government effectively prohibits property owners’ right to profit from their mineral rights. In 1983, Miller Brothers Oil Corporation, based in Traverse City, Mich., leased privately owned mineral rights below the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness, also in Michigan. When the company submitted its drilling plan to the state’s Department of Natural Resources, the agency rejected it, saying state law prohibited “any and all” energy development on the land. 
Miller and the mineral owners sued. In 1989 state Circuit Court Judge Peter Houk ruled that the state’s action was a taking of private property, and awarded the plaintiffs $71.5 million, upping that figure to $120.8 million in 1995—and the company never even had to drill. 
The court tried to accommodate the state’s environmental concerns by encouraging it to allow directional drilling under the ground, but the state refused. The government’s unwillingness to find a reasonable compromise triggered the award.
Click here to read the rest of the article.

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Popular posts from this blog

Fracktivist in Dimock Releases Carefully Edited Video, Refuses to Release the Rest

By -
Image
From Energy in Depth: There is something very strange going on along Carter Road, in Dimock, Pennsylvania, and I’m not speaking of natural gas, methane migration, contamination, litigation or even the extensive water testing there by the EPA and others.  No, I’m talking about a new “Watergate” conspiracy, complete with 18 minutes of missing tape (well, video, actually). It seems the ever-present Green Party member and  naturist   Vera Scroggins  (a/k/a  Vera Duerga ) has posted a video of Craig Sautner meeting with the EPA.  Mysteriously, the video is but 14 seconds in length, cutting off conversation in what is obviously mid-stream.  It raises a question Craig Sautner, like  Ronald Reagan in Kings Row , might have asked, “Where’s the rest of me?’  Carter Road, isn’t Kings Row, of course, (at least not until you arrive at  the mansion Scott Ely, one of the Dimock litigants, is building with his royalty money ), but there appears to be...
Read more

The Second Largest Oil and Gas Merger - Cabot and Cimarex

By -
Image
       Due to investor pressure, the U.S shale drillers are being pushed to improve financial and operational performance after a few years of poor returns. Even though the industry has improved its numbers, when compared to last year, investors still want more to be done for them to earn more money.      That's why two mid-tier shale drillers, Cabot and Climarex, have decided to merge in order to eliminate $100 million in annual costs, which means more money for the investors. This all-stock transaction is valued at about $7.4 billion, which is relatively high for the oil and gas sector.      The new entity will be renamed and the headquarters located in Houston, Texas. Cabot shareholders will own 49.5 percent of the new entity, and Climarex the rest.       The Cimarex-Cabot merger will address the investor's demand for a higher amount of returning cash. The initial plan is to pay a 50-cent-per-share special dividen...
Read more

Do You Know The History of Fracking?

By -
Image
  In 2018, 59% of total oil production in the U.S came from hydraulic fracking, which means it accounted for more than two-thirds of domestically manufactured gas. By 2024, fracking will reach an astounding $68 billion market value! Of course, fracking is not a new drilling method as you can trace it back hundreds of years. That's why we want to consider the history of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). We will be stating historical facts about it and focusing on the major historical occurrences that have influenced modern-day fracking. Pre-Fracking Days The idea of fracking started back in 1862 when Edward A.L. Roberts (Civil War veteran) witnessed Confederate soldiers exploding artillery rounds into a canal that obstructed a battlefield. At the time, Edward A.L. Roberts called it superincumbent fluid tamping. On April 26th, 1865, Edward A.L. Roberts began experimenting with exploding torpedoes, which consisted of lowering a torpedo containing an amount of powder from fifteen to tw...
Read more