Welcome ruling on water lines
WE wrote in July about efforts by Kingfisher County’s three commissioners to restrict oil-and-gas drilling by banning the use of temporary water lines in county rights-of-way. Those lines transport produced water, a byproduct of drilling.
There were good logistical reasons to oppose the ban, including the fact it would require trucks to make thousands of trips hauling produced water from well sites, contributing to greater road deterioration. And if the water isn’t hauled off, it likely would be reinjected into the ground, a process that has been linked to seismic activity.
But even putting those concerns aside, critics argued the ban violated a state law that gives the Oklahoma Corporation Commission exclusive regulatory oversight of energy production. This week, the state Supreme Court sided with critics, ruling the commissioners’ action violated the law and declaring the Corporation Commission is the proper entity to regulate wastewater disposal processes.
Chad Warmington, president of the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association (now known as OIPA-OKOGA), hailed the court’s decision, saying it ensures “muchneeded certainty and uniformity across Oklahoma’s 77 counties.”
“A patchwork of local ordinances and regulations creates unnecessary confusion, thwarts innovative solutions, and threatens environmental protections and public health,” Warmington said.
To allow wildly conflicting regulations to be imposed from county to county across the state would only impede economic progress. The Legislature was right to create statewide standards by vesting authority in the Corporation Commission, and it’s welcome news that the court has upheld the law.
Eyes on 2020
Now that the 2018 elections have concluded, the early jockeying for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination begins in earnest. There are signs the party may have trouble with the activist element of its base preferring candidates whose viability is questionable, at best. A POLITICO/ Morning Consult poll found Democratic voters’ lead choices for their 2020 presidential nominee are former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, respectively. But the third most-mentioned choice was Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who just lost a Texas Senate race and whose impact in the House was negligible. So Democratic voters apparently are being pulled in two directions: Either go with retread candidates who may be beyond their sell-by dates, or go with candidates who appeal to activists but have trouble closing the deal with the broader electorate. It will be interesting to watch this race develop over the next two years.
Disappointing decision
U.S. Roman Catholic bishops met in Baltimore this week intent on taking steps to address the Church’s sex abuse scandal, but were rebuffed by the Vatican. Items on the bishops’ agenda included establishing a lay commission to review complaints against bishops, and adopting a code of conduct for themselves. These would have been meaningful — some bishops have, with good reason, been criticized for how they have dealt with abusive priests. Yet the Vatican ordered the bishops not to act until after a global gathering in February. The head of the bishops group, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, told his colleagues that “to exempt ourselves from this high standard of accountability is unacceptable and cannot stand.” Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane, Washington, was similarly disappointed. “How are we going to explain this to the people back in our dioceses?” The Vatican did itself no favors with this decision.
Friendly fire
On her first day in Washington, D.C., newly elected U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat and self-proclaimed socialist, took time to praise and high-five activists protesting climate change. Ocasio-Cortez declared herself “proud” of the participants for “putting yourselves and your bodies and everything on the line to make sure we save our planet.” One can overlook Ocasio-Cortez’s rhetoric, although it was over the top. (When was the last time anyone suffered any significant negative consequence, let alone bodily harm, for participating in a protest in Washington? That’s a long way from civil rights marchers facing Bull Conner.) Instead, what stood out was that she was praising people who were protesting outside the office of … House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who is expected to be the next House speaker. What better way to start a congressional career than by indirectly aiming friendly fire on members of your own party?
Shapiro at Ohio State
Conservative personality Ben Shapiro gave a speech at Ohio State University this week, rejecting the notion that the government can serve as a cure-all. No surprise, his appearance was met by protesters who shouted such things as “Reagan’s dead” and “John McCain’s dead.” A member of Young Americans for Freedom, which sponsored Shapiro’s speech, complained that administrators had “tried every tactic in the book, from stalling for four months on confirming a space on campus, denying us funding and increasing security fees.” (A spokesman denied the assertion.) According to YAF, the student advisory council for Ohio State’s Morrill Scholars Program sent a message to students saying that Shapiro’s rhetoric “has the potential to threaten the emotional and mental safety of much of the campus community,” and encouraging them to “seek a safe environment for yourself” if they aren’t comfortable in such a climate. Alas, such displays are the norm, not the exception, on college campuses today.
Some of his best friends are women
Recently, Fox News personality Tucker Carlson reported an incident that happened to his 19-year-old daughter when the family dined at Virginia’s Farmington Country Club. Carlson said that after his daughter went to the bathroom, she was stopped by a man (later identified as Manuel Granados) who asked if she was sitting with Tucker Carlson. When she explained Carlson was her dad, the man reportedly called the teen a “whore” and another vile name. It seems there was more than Carlson’s say-so to validate his account, because after the club investigated the incident, Granados’ membership was revoked. Here’s the kicker: It turns out Granados serves on the board of directors for the Women’s Initiative, a group that provides mental health services to low-income women. Apparently, nothing shows your strong support for women more than directing profane, misogynist rhetoric at them.