Even in this demoralizing regulatory landscape, Americans are still innovating in energy production. Residents of Tioga, North Dakota, are showing the rest of the country how profitable domestic energy could be--if the federal government doesn't halt the town's economic boom.
Thanks to fracking--a process where rock is fractured to tap oil-rich underground resources--the Tioga area is flourishing. So many people are moving to the area that it hasn't been able to build enough houses to keep up with demand.
North Dakota is proving that the U.S. can develop its resources efficiently and in an environmentally sensible manner. Oil production has quadrupled since 2005--North Dakota is now the second-largest oil producer in the U.S. behind Texas--and state regulators have effectively balanced economic growth and environmental protection.
North Dakota is only one of many states that are beginning to reap the economic benefits of fracking and other advances in drilling technology to harvest previously inaccessible oil deposits. But these leaps forward are only possible because regulations haven't crushed these efforts--yet.
When Congress has put up roadblocks to the Obama Administration's agenda, the President has swerved around the legislative process and issued orders through regulation. His EPA has pursued a host of regulations that will kill millions of jobs, challenging Congress to try and stop it. Today, the Senate could take one step in that direction, but it will take a serious fight to maintain the level of economic freedom needed to create jobs and meet the country's energy needs.
Morning Bell: Obama's War on Domestic Energy Production
Thanks to fracking--a process where rock is fractured to tap oil-rich underground resources--the Tioga area is flourishing. So many people are moving to the area that it hasn't been able to build enough houses to keep up with demand.
North Dakota is proving that the U.S. can develop its resources efficiently and in an environmentally sensible manner. Oil production has quadrupled since 2005--North Dakota is now the second-largest oil producer in the U.S. behind Texas--and state regulators have effectively balanced economic growth and environmental protection.
North Dakota is only one of many states that are beginning to reap the economic benefits of fracking and other advances in drilling technology to harvest previously inaccessible oil deposits. But these leaps forward are only possible because regulations haven't crushed these efforts--yet.
When Congress has put up roadblocks to the Obama Administration's agenda, the President has swerved around the legislative process and issued orders through regulation. His EPA has pursued a host of regulations that will kill millions of jobs, challenging Congress to try and stop it. Today, the Senate could take one step in that direction, but it will take a serious fight to maintain the level of economic freedom needed to create jobs and meet the country's energy needs.
Morning Bell: Obama's War on Domestic Energy Production
