Fracking Ban Ends in New Jersey
Not that people there would want cheaper energy, or anything
The controversial practice of drilling natural gas out of bedrock by fracking is no longer banned in New Jersey.
The state's one-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, imposed last year by Governor Christie, expired Thursday, and environmental groups lamented that the state is now exposed to the potential pollution that many critics say can be caused by the procedure.
The state legislature in late 2011 had sent Christie a bill that permanently banned hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, but the governor had issued a conditional veto which limited the ban to a year, because he wanted to wait for the results of a study underway by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to assess the potential effects of fracking on drinking water supplies.
