© David McNew/Getty Images
The sun rises over an oil field over the Monterey Shale formation where gas and oil extraction using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is on the verge of a boom on March 24, 2014 near Lost Hills, California.
Raleigh - Two state Senate committees on Tuesday unanimously passed legislation that would lift the state's fracking moratorium next summer, with a key legislator expressing confidence that the measure would come before the full Senate this week.
The bill would lift the moratorium on shale gas drilling on July 1, 2015, allowing the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources to
start issuing permits to energy companies for hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling.
Fracking supporters say the day has been a long time coming and predicted domestic energy exploration would generate thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of revenue for the state's economy.
"North Carolina has been working on shale gas exploration for four years," said Sen. E.S. "Buck" Newton, a Republican from Wilson. "North Carolina has missed out on a lot of opportunity."
Environmental groups complain the bill breaks a pledge that lawmakers had made twice before not to lift the state's fracking moratorium until all safety rules were in place and approved by the legislature. A previous attempt to lift the moratorium fell apart in the N.C. House last year when lawmakers upheld the drilling ban as a necessary public protection and environmental safeguard.
On Tuesday, the bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, with some Democratic members asking for assurances that the public and the environment will be protected from chemical spills and other accidents.
Republican Sen. Tom Apodaca of Hendersonville, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, said the Energy Modernization Act would be heard by the full Senate on Wednesday and Thursday, then forwarded to the House for debate.
"It'll be a little welcome-back present after Memorial Day," Apodaca said.
Comment: This article is a perfect example of how psychopaths are being subtly glorified in the media. Psychopaths thrive in a corporate setting where the rapaciousness of the environment helps them maintain their facade. When supported by our psychopathic leaders, their domain of influence in our society is vast:
"The psychopathic personality who reaches senior positions or advanced management, attracts other similar personalities and that leads to the formation of psychopathic institutions. These institutions become incubators for these psychopathic qualities and so its impact on society is far more harmful and damaging. "
The psychopathic personality
See also:
Psychopathy and the CEO: Top executives have four times the incidence of psychopathy as the rest of us
Ponerology 101: Snakes in Suits