Oil and Natural gas from fracking is a really big deal
In a few years, we’re going to be exporting more liquified natural gas than any country except Qatar (let’s see if Al Jazeeera promotes the anti-fracking cause).
Democrats keep fighting fracking for whatever their motivation. As much as the government interferes in the marketplace, it’s way past time someone move forward with converting much of the US auto, truck and train fleet and distribution to run on natural gas. Domestic oil production is already going up – Saudi Arabia sees the handwriting in the wall that their influence is about to wane.
Fracking in NC
http://rafiusa.org/issues/landowner-rights-and-fracking/fracking-map-in-nc/
Those evil Republicans are going to force landowners to accept royalty checks (industry practice is landowner gets 1/7 of the value and the oil / had company gets 6/7 (before taxes) for drilling the well, taking the risk and building the infrastructure to transport it to market.
I read about a group of property owners who leased their lands to a frackin’ company for 12.5% royalty (in Colorado, I think) and were complaining the royalty checks had all sorts of deductions made by the frackin’ company for expenses. So, they received far less money than the agreed 12.5% value of the extracted gas.