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Fracking Researcher Steve Horn of DeSmogBlog with Updates on ALEC Laws, PA Court Victory, Sands of Wisconsin and more

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Steve Horn, Research Fellow at DeSmogBlog, returns with updates on a range of fracking issues, including ALEC’s role in pushing laws that override local control of natural gas drilling.We open with a cool tune about fracking by a group of NYU journalism students, as featured on The Young Turks.  Horn follows the impact of hydraulic fracturing closely, and has exposed the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council in copycat laws that give gas drillers carte blanche and roll back local land use and zoning laws.  He reports that a court in Pennsylvania recently overturned parts of Act 13, an ALEC bill that also puts a gag on doctors from talking about health impacts of the process and the wastewater/chemical soup produced.  He talks about earthquakes in Ohio and Texas in fracking zones, and how some property owners are rising up to fight the gas companies.  He reports that western Wisconsin has deposits of silica sand that’s ideal for fracking, and that Warren Buffet’s little railroad, BNSF, is profiting.  And we talk about the weakened role of the EPA, dubbed by Republicans in Tampa the Employment Prevention Agency, and points out that regulations create jobs, too.