F*ck you people, trying to practice direct democracy on a local level. Don't you have any shame?! There are old money white guys trying to profit at your expenses here, so get ready to bend over and take it in the water table.

Ban "fracking?"

real_headhoncho: [upload.wikimedia.org image 200x250]

Ban "fracking?"

I approve of this reference to the REAL Battlestar Galactica.

Next you dumb bastards will start thinking you have "rights"

/when the fossil fuel industry buys someone or something, it STAYS bought

Bontesla: FTFA: But Toor said Longmont's ban is unlikely to be upheld in court. He said that under current state law, and based on prior court decisions, a Boulder County ban on fracking outside the county's cities and towns probably also would not be upheld.

Despite many residents' demands that Boulder County impose such a prohibition on the process of injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to free up underground oil and gas deposits, Toor said he believes that "we simply do not have that legal option.

So why hold a vote?

Because it was a referendum. If it got enough petition signatures it was probably required by the town charter.

was this headline submitted by a meme generator?

Can somebody explain why/how the ban would be overturned by the courts? The article does a terrible job explaining on what grounds the ban could be challenged.

nmrsnr: Can somebody explain why/how the ban would be overturned by the courts? The article does a terrible job explaining on what grounds the ban could be challenged.

From what little I could gather, company agreements with the state trump county bans.

Lsherm: nmrsnr: Can somebody explain why/how the ban would be overturned by the courts? The article does a terrible job explaining on what grounds the ban could be challenged.

From what little I could gather, company agreements with the state trump county bans.

Thanks, all I could find was that the county "doesn't have the legal authority" but I have no idea what that means.

Secede already you damn county-rightsers.

GAT_00: nmrsnr: Can somebody explain why/how the ban would be overturned by the courts? The article does a terrible job explaining on what grounds the ban could be challenged.

Money buys judges.

I forgot that you have a GED in law as well.

First you need to send folks to Congress who will reverse the severing of mineral rights from deeds. Then these same folks need to overturn the legislation that says that the highest and best use of land is generally mineral extraction. Then you need them to pass more legislation that turns mineral extraction regulation over to the states.

At which point, it becomes far easier for the companies to buy votes, since state legislatures are under far less scrutiny than Congress.

Face it, we have the best laws money can buy, and the only thing that can change is which level those bought laws originate.

Is fracking really that damaging? I've heard things both ways, so I'm sort of on the fence about this one. And isn't natural gas better than burning coal?

If voting changed anything it would be illegal.

fusillade762: Is fracking really that damaging? I've heard things both ways, so I'm sort of on the fence about this one. And isn't natural gas better than burning coal?

I'm on the fence too. I think it probably can be done safely, but it shouldn't be done just anywhere. Blindly opposing it or blindly supporting it are probably equally stupid.

Sid_6.7: F*ck you people, trying to practice direct democracy on a local level. Don't you have any shame?! There are old money white guys trying to profit at your expenses here, so get ready to bend over and take it in the water table.

It's Boulder, bro. I heard there were dozens of college kids voting that, like, none of the clerks even recognized.

nmrsnr: Lsherm: nmrsnr: Can somebody explain why/how the ban would be overturned by the courts? The article does a terrible job explaining on what grounds the ban could be challenged.

From what little I could gather, company agreements with the state trump county bans.

Thanks, all I could find was that the county "doesn't have the legal authority" but I have no idea what that means.

What little it explains is here: county's currently limited legal authority to adopt any rules that would substantially conflict with federal and state laws and regulations about oil and gas development, according to Commissioner Will Toor.

This was a county referendum. The laws and regulations on fracking were made at the state and national level. So for a county to vote "ban fracking" has about as much impact on a Federal law as if a city decided to take marijuana off of the DEA Schedule I. A city or state can say it won't enforce a drug law that's on it's own books; but it has no authority to change the federal laws or to remove a drug off the federal schedules.

Also, there are contracts to consider. A county may say "No fracking in our borders" and it could be legal...IF they're willing to pay ABC Gas and Oil the mineral rights they legally bought or contracted for for all the land within the county that they were going to be doing the gas drilling on. Part of contract law and property rights cover the value of the land, and if a county passes a regulation that makes the formerly valuable land worthless, then they can end up owing the contract holder the value of that property. So the County could suddenly find itself on the hook for tens of millions of dollars worth of natural gas if they go ahead and let the citizens have their way--money the citizens may not have realized they were going to have to pony up. It's a lot easier to blame it on the Feds, however, than to explain to the righteously angry citizens that they just cost themselves a lot of tax money by opposing fracking.

TheBeastOfYuccaFlats: real_headhoncho: [upload.wikimedia.org image 200x250]

Ban "fracking?"

I approve of this reference to the REAL Mormonstar Galactica.

/FTFY