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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Whether in Minnesota or Texas, plutocrats rule

Posted

Following the dubious lead of Texas, the Oklahoma legislature just passed a bill that bans local governments from banning fracking in their jurisdictions – this after fracking has been linked to a significant increase in earthquakes in the state, not to mention groundwater contamination. The irony and hypocrisy of this action is too precious. The politicians of Texas and Oklahoma – two of the “reddest” states in the Union – are among the loudest in bashing the federal government for over-regulation and infringing upon the rights of the people. This legislation, however, exposes their true colors: rights and freedom for the people end precisely where rights and freedom for the oil companies begin.

Unfortunately, this fracking-friendly, citizen-unfriendly legislation bears all too much resemblance to a last-minute bill passed by the Minnesota Legislature that would weaken the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, loosen standards for the protection of water and wild rice, exempt sulfide mining from existing rules governing solid waste, and generally set environmental (read: human health) gains back several years. Governor Dayton vetoed it, but who knows what will be cranked out of a special session. It could get worse. The state of Wyoming has actually outlawed collecting evidence of water pollution and other violations of environmental regulations. Is that where we’re headed?

Red state or blue state, it’s the corporate plutocracy that seems to exert the most influence over the votes of most lawmakers.

Peter M. Leschak

Side Lake, Minn.