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Interior secretary: State fracking oversight just isn’t good enough for me
Hotair ^ | 06/26/2012 | Erika Johnsen

Posted on 06/26/2012 12:06:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

There are few things that can make me quite as outrageously perturbed as the unmitigated gall of a big-government bureaucrat presuming that he knows better than everybody else. I often make the case that when it comes to energy-and-environment issues specifically, big government is an especially poor steward in which to place your environmental faith, as inefficiency and incomplete knowledge tend to compromise their many "well-meaning" activities and instead directly cause environmental degradation. And hey, here's a perfect example of just the sort of infuriating, unadulterated baloney I'm talking about, straight from Obama’s Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on the administration's upcoming fracking regulations.

State level oversight of hydraulic fracturing or fracking is not sufficient and criticism leveled at the Obama administration for its proposed rules is not valid, Salazar told Reuters in an interview. …

“There are some who are saying that it’s not something we ought to do, it should be left up to the states. That’s not good enough for me because states are at very different level, some have zero, some have decent rules.”

The Obama administration unveiled long-awaited rules in May to bolster oversight on public lands of oil and natural gas drilling using fracking technology, running into criticism it was creating a duplicate layer of bureaucracy and infringing on states’ rights. …

“Shale gas has provided the United States the opportunity to have 100 years of supply that is domestically produced. If we are going to develop natural gas from shale, it has to be done in a safe and responsible manner,” Salazar said…

Yes, Secretary Salazar — because those stupid, shortsighted states couldn’t possibly have their own best interests at heart, and couldn’t possibly possess the knowledge to steward their own resources, and couldn’t possibly survive without your completely dispassionate federal wisdom. Please, condescend to tell everyone what to do and apply the same top-down prescription to every individual situation so we can all sleep more soundly at night, not having to worry about figmental ecological emergencies.

The Obama administration is constantly justifying their ever-increasing regulatory agenda by claiming that “we need to make sure things are being done in a safe and responsible manner.” But has the federal government ever been able to prove that states are not able to effectively handle their own fracking business? No, the federal government merely needs to placate the powerful, well-monied, frack-hating environmental lobby.

They really are stuck between a rock and hard place on issues like fracking and the Keystone pipeline — how to make it look like they support private-sector projects that would undeniably bring much-needed jobs and economic growth to the country, but avoid rousing the ire of the highly vocal green movement? But nothing justifies their power-grab-happy tendency to undermine federalism at every available turn.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: energy; environment; fracking; interior

1 posted on 06/26/2012 12:06:39 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

“Not good enough” for a guy who graduated with a degree in Political Science? SERIOUSLY???


2 posted on 06/26/2012 12:12:02 PM PDT by Pat4ever
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To: SeekAndFind

Thanks, Kenny Boy. You just absolutely-damn-teed your boss is gonna lose Ohio and Pennsylvania now. Glad to have you on our side!


3 posted on 06/26/2012 12:16:47 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: SeekAndFind

Since the Federal take over of education and immigration and Amtrack and the post office is working out so well, let’s expand their role.


4 posted on 06/26/2012 12:18:43 PM PDT by cicero2k
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To: SeekAndFind

Frack you, Ken Salazar.


5 posted on 06/26/2012 12:26:19 PM PDT by onemiddleamerican (FUBO and all your terrorist buddies)
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To: Pat4ever
If these proposed federal rules apply only to drilling operations conducted on BLM (federal) lands, I don't have that much problem with it, leaving aside the fact that there are few, if any, people in the Interior Department with the professional acumen and expertise to write such rules.

If, however, Mr. Salazar proposes new federal rules for fracking that are to be applied to operations conducted on private fee lands NOT owned by the federal government, then I got Mr. Salazar's "fracking" rules hangin' right heah. ;-)
6 posted on 06/26/2012 12:29:21 PM PDT by Milton Miteybad (I am Jim Thompson. {Really.})
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To: Nachum; steelyourfaith; thackney

Ping


7 posted on 06/26/2012 12:38:44 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: SeekAndFind

The most simple advertisement is this story and one then one about delays in the Gulf AFTER the judge slapped Obambi and this interior SECTY Salazar - “Ladies and gentleman of America, the people in this adminsitration don’t even follow court orders. They have their own rules and working people need not apply for the jobs they have destroyed.”


8 posted on 06/26/2012 12:39:23 PM PDT by q_an_a (the more laws the less justice)
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To: SeekAndFind

States are such a NUISANCE, aren’t they?

Just like that damn Constitution and Bill of Rights!!

(SARCASM)


9 posted on 06/26/2012 12:39:58 PM PDT by ZULU (See: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=D9vQt6IXXaM&hd)
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To: Pat4ever

Not good enough for ya? Then go F yourself.


10 posted on 06/26/2012 12:42:54 PM PDT by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office.)
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To: ZULU
States are such a NUISANCE, aren’t they...

...said the SCOTUS just yesterday.

11 posted on 06/26/2012 1:15:07 PM PDT by T-Bird45 (It feels like the seventies, and it shouldn't.)
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To: Jet Jaguar; NorwegianViking; ExTexasRedhead; HollyB; FromLori; EricTheRed_VocalMinority; ...

The list, Ping

Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list

http://www.nachumlist.com/


12 posted on 06/26/2012 1:17:27 PM PDT by Nachum (The complete Obama list at www.nachumlist.com)
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