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Biden administration moves to protect Alaska wilderness; opening statements and first witness in NY trial; SCOTUS hears Starbucks case, with implications for unions on the line; rural North Carolina town gets pathway to home ownership.

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The Supreme Court weighs cities ability to manage a growing homelessness crisis, anti-Israeli protests spread to college campuses nationwide, and more states consider legislation to ban firearms at voting sites and ballot drop boxes.

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Wyoming needs more educators who can teach kids trade skills, a proposal to open 40-thousand acres of an Ohio forest to fracking has environmental advocates alarmed and rural communities lure bicyclists with state-of-the-art bike trail systems.

Obama Administration's Fracking Rules Dealt Blow by Federal Judge

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Thursday, June 23, 2016   

DENVER – In a blow to the Obama administration's environmental agenda, a federal judge has struck down the Bureau of Land Management's fracking rules, saying that the president overstepped his authority.

The judge ruled late Tuesday that the agency needs permission from Congress to regulate fracking, and noted that legislators previously denied the Environmental Protection Agency the right to regulate the practice under the Clean Water Act.

Clare Lakewood, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, says that argument doesn't hold up.

"It's an outlier of a decision,” she states. “Frankly, there is plenty of authority that BLM has the authority to make rules with regard to fossil fuel extraction on its land, including fracking. And we are confident this will be overturned on appeal."

The rules were already on hold after the same judge issued a preliminary injunction last year.

Several oil and gas producing states, and a Native American tribe, brought the case. They argued that the rules were unnecessary since the states already have the authority to regulate fracking.

Lakewood says the rules would have guaranteed the public more information on the chemicals used, some of which are linked to respiratory disease and cancer.

"It would require disclosure of certain of the chemicals that are used in hydraulic fracturing,” she states. “That's really important because we know that a lot of the chemicals are toxic to humans and the environment."

The rules would also require all fracking wastewater be stored in above ground tanks, instead of in containment pits that have the potential to leak and contaminate groundwater.

The Department of the Interior is expected to appeal the ruling.






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