Legislator can't remember where his pro-fracking bill came from. Maybe divinely inspired??

[JPZenger]

http://triblive.com/business/headlines/4303895-74/bill-pooling-provision#axzz2YSgakNBN

The legislature could not pass a transportation bill to fund desperately needed work on bridges and highways. However, they did find time to pass a provision in a bill that benefits the frackers in less than a week, at the expense of property-owners who lease their land. The legislator who was the major force behind the bill just can't remember who asked him to get the bill enacted. Maybe it was divinely inspired? Immaculate conception?

The provision makes it easier for frackers to do natural gas drilling on properties with very very old mineral leases, without having to do negotiations with the current property-owners. It was squeezed into a law that was mainly about clarifying lease arrangements.

Although some legislators will tell you they didn't know what was in this provision, that would not be true in the House. A legislator figured out the intent of the provisions and demanded a vote to strip out the language. It failed. That legislator said that the industry tries to convince property-owners that any laws and regulations that upset the frackers will harm persons leasing their land. Actually, they may have very different interests.

Excerpts:

"The state House member who sponsored amendments that would make it easier for energy companies in Pennsylvania to combine land leased for gas drilling said on Wednesday that he did not know who wrote the provision or where the idea came from.

The General Assembly passed a bill last weekend that would empower drilling companies to combine leased land into larger drilling units as long as the contracts don't prohibit it. The bill would likely have its biggest effect in Western Pennsylvania, where many people hold old oil and gas leases that don't mention pooling. For that small set of landowners, it could undercut the power to renegotiate when drillers need to assemble large tracts for modern, horizontal shale drilling, experts and critics have said.

Legislators said discussions about the problem started months ago, but Rep. Garth Everett, R-Lycoming County, said he could not remember who pointed out the problem or suggested this solution....“I'm serious. I don't know who exactly proposed (that amendment). We had a lot of proposals going into the bill,” Everett said. “Legislation is brought to us by staff. I send them ideas, and they put them into a form of legislation and come back. Where the idea came from, who proposed this ... section, I don't know who that individual was.”

[PDJane]

1. His name was likely ALEC, no last name?

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Liar, liar, pants on fire!!!!

That asshole knows where the idea came from......but who can blame him for being afraid to admit it.

[blue neen]

3. You know it's got to be REALLY bad if the Trib is against it.

I'm calling all of my area reps today to voice our disgust and displeasure.