"COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio senators approved new regulations for horizontal shale drilling known as fracking on Tuesday in a bipartisan vote punctuated by a spoken rendition of 'The Beverly Hillbillies' theme song."
"State Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, used the 1960s sitcom's protagonist — who became an instant millionaire when he discovered oil — to urge fellow lawmakers to dispense with critics of hydraulic fracturing and get drilling moving in the state.
'Folks, we're sitting on a mountain of money,' he said. 'People who have been poor as church mice for 150 years are now going to be the latter-day Jed Clampetts.'
The detailed energy bill cleared the chamber, 27-6, with backing from both Republicans and Democrats. It also adjusts Ohio's renewable energy standard, which set a timetable for utilities to meet usage thresholds, to include waste heat such as that generated from factory smokestacks."
Julie Carr Smyth reports for the Associated Press May 16, 2012.
SEE ALSO:
"Insight: In Ohio, "Fracking" Boom A Delicate Issue For Obama" (Reuters)
"States Scramble To Regulate Fracking" (Chicago Tribune)
"Vermont Becomes First State To Ban Gas Drilling Technique Known as Hydraulic Fracturing" (AP)
"State Law Would Require Drillers To Disclose Chemicals Used in Fracking" (Ravenna Record-Courier)
"Oil Companies Agree To Post Fracking Data" (Bakersfield Californian)
"State Cements Fracking Rules" (New Philadelphia Times-Reporter)
"Controversial Fracking Bill Advances" (Charlotte Observer)
"Average Citizens Are Unaware of Unsafe Chemicals Used in Fracking" (Zanesville Times-Recorder)
"Fracking Safety Improves Dramatically, Says Independent Study" (Forbes)
"UB Shale Institute Taps Industry Shills" (Art Voice)
"Could Fracking in Los Angeles Cause an Earthquake?" (L.A. Weekly)
"Firms Step Up Fracking Disclosure; Activists Want It Banned" (PolitiCal/Los Angeles Times)
"Fast-Track Fracking Legislation: a Solution in Search of a Problem" (Progressive Pulse/NC Policy Watch)
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