This New York Times editorial notes Cheney's gift to Halliburton in the 2005 energy bill - free-for-all-fracking - and what it is doing to water supplies. There's a bill in Congress to study the risks, which are poo-pooed by the industry. And another important bill to restore EPA's regulation of the matter.
The industry argues that the chemicals are proprietary secrets and that disclosing them would hurt their competitiveness. It also argues that the process is basically safe and that regulating it would deter domestic production. But if hydraulic fracturing is as safe as the industry says it is, why should it fear regulation?
Because pleading ignorance and asking forgiveness is a lot easier than doing the right thing and having to ask permission before putting the nation's water at risk.
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