Words like truth and honor are the latest casualties in the fight with
the Idaho Legislature. Despite being
top-heavy with alleged champions of family values, the Idaho legislature
routinely ignores and negates the wishes of citizens.
In February 2012, John Peiserich of Snake River Oil and Gas was scheduled
to give a presentation to the Environment and Resource committee chaired by
Senator Monty J. Pearce. Pearce, who
owns numerous gas and oil leases, allowed Peiserich over an hour to make his "pro-fracking"
presentation in support of HB 464.
The law, which went into effect Friday, ties the hands of local
governments with regards to potential restrictions that would impact gas and
oil drilling or "fracking". Effective
immediately, cities and counties in Idaho cannot require drilling companies to
get a "conditional use permit" for drilling projects, effectively eliminating
the ability of local governments to set ordnances that would protect quality of
life issues in their jurisdiction.
Conditional use permits are a commonly used legal
tool that allows municipalities to control certain uses which could have
detrimental effects on the community and Idaho stands as the only state in the
country which has stripped towns and counties of this important right of
self-determination.
The rush to pass HB 464 was led by Pearce who has been the subject of
several ethics inquiries. In an email
sent to him on February 28 by Ms. Alma Hasse, a resident and farm owner in Payette Country, she asked for
the time to allow opposing experts to appear before his committee saying, "We
do not feel that a vote on HB 464 should be held by the committee until such a
time as the committee has had the opportunity to hear from ALL affected parties and
their experts.
Pearce did not allow opposing viewpoints to be presented and declined any
comment for this article.
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