I’ve always thought that, when a politician casts a controversial vote, an explanation before that vote is cast is worth a lot more than a justification after the fact. In this op/ed column Senator Heidi Heitkamp does a lot of justifying of her recent vote against overturning an Obama era emissions rule which the state’s…
Ron Ness: Senator Heitkamp Failed to Support North Dakota
This week, the industry was dealt a serious blow when the Senate failed to repeal the BLM Waste Prevention rule. This was not without a lack of effort on behalf of Senator Hoeven and Congressman Cramer who showed great leadership in the effort and showed their support for the more than 72,000 people whose jobs…
Democrat Who Got 26 Percent of the Vote Now Telling Us What North Dakotans Want on Flaring Rule
When it comes to hot button issues, such as the effort to unravel the Obama administration’s ridiculous and redundant flaring rule which was dropped three days before President Trump’s inauguration, letters to the editor are usually an exercise in astroturf. On both sides of the issue. Which means they usually aren’t worth commenting on. But…
Cramer Says Heitkamp Promised MHA Tribe She’d Vote to Overturn Federal Flaring Rules
In Congress right now there is an effort to disapprove an Obama administration regulation aimed at the oil industry. The so-called “venting and flaring” rule imposed by the Bureau of Land Management is so colossally broad it impacts not just federal lands but state lands as well. This rule creates a jurisdictional quagmire, which I’m…
Senator Heitkamp’s Fence Sitting on Federal Flaring Rules Is Perplexing
There is a push in Congress right now to disapprove an Obama administration regulation aimed at the oil industry. The so-called “venting and flaring” rule imposed by the Bureau of Land Management is so colossally broad it impacts not just federal lands but state lands as well. This rule creates a jurisdictional quagmire, which I’m…
EIA: Flaring In North Dakota “Has Declined Sharply”
It’s more than a little sad that while the increase in natural gas flaring in North Dakota sparked lots of headlines, both in the state and nationally, the response from the oil and gas industry and state regulators to dramatically reduce flaring has gone largely unnoticed. Safe airplane landings aren’t news, the adage goes, but…
North Dakota Flaring Volume Down 54 Percent Over The Last Two Years
When North Dakota had a problem with gas flaring over the last several years it got a lot of attention from journalists, activists, and politicians. People were upset – and rightfully so, nobody likes to see gas flared – and demanded action from the industry and state regulators (who were often accused of being too…
The Real News Is That North Dakota Flaring Is Down Significantly
Reporter Amy Dalrymple caught North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness in a bit of an exaggeration about recent flaring reductions. “North Dakota’s oil industry significantly reduced flaring last year, but whether it’s as substantial as an industry leader portrayed it in Fargo this week depends on how the decrease is calculated,” she reports. It’s true…
North Dakota Gas Flaring Down 24 Percent Over The Last Two Years
If you asked a representative sample of North Dakotans about their impression of the gas flaring issue in the state, how many of them do you suppose would say that flaring has decreased over the last two years? And not only decreased, but dropped by as much as 24 percent? Back in September when the…
North Dakota’s New Flaring Goal In Context
Back in September the North Dakota Industrial Commission – the triumvirate made up of Governor Jack Dalrymple, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem which regulates, among other things, oil and gas development in the state – made some changes to a flaring reduction plan they had implemented in April 2014. Flaring has…
