Governor Mary Fallin will have the final say on a controversial bill to allow for extended lateral drill in the state of Oklahoma. The State house, in debate on Wednesday voted 51-46 to pass Senate Bill 867 which allows energy companies to drill horizontal wells longer than one mile in nonshale formations. Representative Weldon Watson …
Erin Brochovich is returning to Oklahoma to host additional community meetings in June. She will be joined by attorneys from the law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg and experts to discuss pending litigation against energy companies. The law firm was responsible for filing lawsuits in Cushing and Pawnee after an increase in seismic activity. The …
Chickasha Democratic Representative David Perryman thinks the cry of the oil and gas industry over raising the gross production tax is a case of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” He used it to attack an Oklahoma City oilman and to plead for higher taxes on the industry. It’s what he claimed in a press release made …
An eastern Oklahoma landowner who thought his land was worth $419,000 has lost an appeal with the State Supreme Court in a fight over an underground natural gas reservoir. In a ruling earlier this month, the high court upheld a Haskell County judge’s ruling that awarded landowner Royce Larsen only $9,000 after his 80 acres …
Another public meeting about the Keystone XL pipeline route through Nebraska has been announced by the Nebraska Public Service Commission. It will be held June 7 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. in O’Neill, Nebraska. The Commission will eventually decide whether to approve or disapprove the route. Public comment will be received on a first-come, …
“You can call it what you want. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it’s a duck! And this is a revenue-raising measure.” Rep. Collin Walke. The State House this week voted to pass a gross production tax bill. House Bill 2449 passed on a 54-44 vote while Republicans said it …
The New York Times article targeting Scott Pruitt, Devon Energy and Sen. James Lankford for their environmental efforts got the attention of the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Sen. Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware, sent a letter to Pruitt, the EPA Administrator wanting information about settlements between Devon Energy …
“The war on coal is over.” It’s what EPA Chief Scott Pruitt told the Congressional Coal Caucus on Monday as he met with members to discuss a Trump administration budget that cuts funding for environmental and climate protections. Pruitt told the lawmakers that energy generators would not have to choose between pro-energy and pro-growth. “This …
If Senators James Lankford and Elizabeth Warren get their way, the public will know every detail of legal environmental and enforcement settlements by federal agencies. Too often, some details of such settlements have to be uncovered either by snoopy reporters or environmentalists. In what some might describe as “The Odd Couple,” the Republican Lankford and …
As EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt observes 100 days in office, the national press has been exploring what he’s done to the giant agency. Those who believe deeply in climate change think he’s been a disaster. Others, such as Business Insider compared Pruitt’s first 100 days to those of other administrators of the Environmental Protection …