French General Assembly acts quickly & decisively - BANS fracking!

[Divernan]

The General Assembly is the lower house. Their Senate takes up the matter on June 1st.

I love that they didn't fart around with the stall and delay tactics we see in the US Congress - the dog and pony shows motivating the lobbyists to paper the hill with fat campaign donations. My biggest disillusion in going to work for the PA. legislature was seeing how both parties regularly put up anti-big-business-interest bills & held hearings, just to shake money out of the various lobbyist trees.

(Headline) French lower house of parliament votes to ban ‘fracking’ technique in shale gas drilling

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/french-lower-house-of-parliament-votes-to-ban-fracking-technique-in-shale-gas-drilling/2011/05/11/AFx5TXqG_story.html

By Associated Press, Published: May 11

PARIS — France’s lower house of parliament has taken a first legislative step toward banning a controversial gas and oil drilling technique that critics fear could contaminate ground water.

The conservative-controlled National Assembly has voted 287-186 to forbid hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for the exploration and production of shale gas and oil.

The process involves injecting water, sand and chemicals underground to crack the shale rock and get natural gas to flow into a well. Critics insist the technique uses too much water and could involve toxic chemicals.

The Senate takes up the issue June 1.