Gov. Bev
Perdue recently released a statement that appears to support fracking. She told
WRAL-TV (click here) that she thought that "From
what I saw fracking can be done safely if you regulate it and put fees in place
to have inspectors on the ground."
The
Governor ignores a couple of issues. First, “can be done safely” is quite different from “will be done safely”. The drilling industry will say that their
safeguards will ensure that it will be safe to frack. The same industry said
that deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
was safe.
There is
also the question of the “inspectors on the ground”. The NC legislature has
been cutting DENR and other environmental departments. Will they approve the
number of inspectors? If so, will the cost of these inspectors be borne by the
industry or by the state’s taxpayers.
In
addition to the safety issues, there are issues of water use, disposal of “produced”
wate (water that comes back up from the well, containing hazardous chemicals),
traffic on country roads and the damage to those roads, as well as the general
loss of quality of life.
According
to news reports the trip was not announced and she did not meet with fracking
opponents. (see News & Observer editorial).
The trip was let by the fracking industry.
In the Under the Dome blog, the News
& Observer commented
on a Rush Limbaugh radio comment
about Perdue's apparent support of fracking.
Because this trip was not publically
announced ahead of time and she only met with one side of the debate, Bev
Perdue should pay back to the state the cost of her trip, including the pay for
security and for other state officials who accompanied her.
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