Louisiana Law Blocks Suits against Big Oil; NC Law Opens Up Fracking

Louisiana governor signs law to block suits against oil industry. Louisana Gov. Bobby Jindal signed a bill Friday to quash a landmark lawsuit brought by a local flood protection agency that sought damages from the oil and gas industry to restore the state’s vanishing coastline. Jindal signed the legislation — which prevents government bodies in Louisiana from pursuing such litigation — despite warnings from the state attorney general and nearly 100 legal experts. Critics of the law say it is so broad it could potentially imperil hundreds of other lawsuits against oil and gas companies, including litigation against BP for its role in the 2010 Gulf oil spill.

Governor Signs Bill Opening NC Up To Fracking. Environmental groups including the Sierra Club and Environment North Carolina quickly criticized the law as harmful to the public waterways and negligent of other energy sources like wind and solar. “There are more than 1,000 documented cases of contaminated water from fracking across the country,” said Elizabeth Ouzts, state director of Environment North Carolina. “By rushing to frack, Gov. McCrory and legislative leaders are putting North Carolina’s rivers and the drinking water for millions in jeopardy.”

Sources: Huffington Post, LA Times.

Paul Brown is a retired neuroscience professor whose primary interests are human rights, overpopulation, mass extinction, global warming, and the military-industrial complex. Links to all his Before It’s News postings are at /contributor/pages/189/210/stories.html.