© David McNew/Getty ImagesThe 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: All this hoopla about Chinese spying, with nary a whisper about the decades of intelligence theft committed by Israel against the US. Curious, isn't it? A small sample:
Extent of Israeli spying 'shocking'- senior US intelligence officials
CIA considers Israel one of its biggest spy threats, but the U.S. continues to fund their military adventures
U.S. accuses Israel of 'alarming, even terrifying' levels of spying
The History of Israeli Spying: The Mother of all Scandals
Safe heaven: Israeli spy hid in US vice president's bathroom