The Obama administration released a long-awaited rule today to help ensure oil and gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing on our national public lands is done safely, responsibly, and in a way that protects nearby communities.
Despite their vocal protests, the oil and gas industry—which likes to tout its safety and public health record—has no reason to be against these common sense reforms. In fact, the industry often expresses support for the types of protective measures codified in the new rule.
Improve safety and ensure oil and gas wells are structurally sound
The oil and gas industry has long stated that it wants to ensure that workers and communities are protected from the impacts of drilling. For example, the American Petroleum Institute says:
America’s oil and natural gas industry considers safety its top priority and is committed to developing the technologies, standards and best practices, and programs needed to help ensure that workplace safety is at the forefront of our activities.
Provide flexibility for state rules and regulations to take precedent
The new rules set a regulatory baseline; states with equal or stronger standards can receive a variance from any provision of the rule. This is precisely in line with the request from Tim Wigley, President at the Western Energy Alliance:
If anything, BLM should be delegating more to the states in recognition of their exemplary environmental and safety records.
Chemical-laced water returning to the surface is safely contained and properly treated
The oil and gas industry has long said that it wants to ensure water supplies are safe from the adverse effects of drilling. For example, Noble Energy says:
We recognize the importance of protecting water quality and availability, and our water management strategy focuses on increasing water recycling and reuse.
Enable companies to disclose toxic substances used during drilling and fracking in a publicly accessible database
The oil and gas industry has often touted its desire to make its operations more transparent. A website statement from Baker Hughes Inc. says:
[We believe] it is possible to disclose 100 percent of the chemical ingredients we use in hydraulic fracturing fluids without compromising our formulations, a balance that increases public trust while encouraging commercial innovation.
In the end, oil and gas companies—which continue to suffer from the image that it’s only profits and their bottom lines that matter—do themselves no favors by opposing common sense protections. And yet, the industry’s main lobby groups have responded with little more than bluster, and now a lawsuit.
The new fracking rule takes a giant leap forward, guaranteeing safer wells and improved transparency, while giving communities the peace of mind that regulators are working alongside companies to ensure safe and responsible oil and gas development.