Texas Governor Signs Law to Prohibit Local Oil Well Fracking Bans

Large hoses lead from one hydraulic fracking drill site to another as horses graze in a Midland, Texas field.
Photograph: Pat Sullivan/AP

reuters.com - by Anna Driver and Terry Wade - May 18, 2015

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday signed a bill into law that prohibits cities and towns from banning an oil drilling practice known as hydraulic fracking, giving the state sole authority over oil and gas regulation.

Lawmakers in Texas, a state that is home to the two of the most productive U.S. shale oil fields, have been under pressure to halt an anti-fracking movement since November, when voters in the town of Denton voted to ban the oil and gas extraction technique.

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