Over the weekend I had an interesting Twitter conversation with state Rep. Karla Rose Hanson, the sponsor of so-called “red flag” legislation which would allow law enforcement, or even just friends/family, to initiate a process through which a person’s guns can be seized based claims that they’re a danger to themselves and/or others. During that…
Ron Ness: BLM Rule Enables Waste Rather Than Preventing It
This guest post was submitted by Ron Ness, President of the North Dakota Petroleum Council. It’s now been nearly one year since the United States Senate had the opportunity to rescind an Obama-era regulation that aimed to prevent venting and flaring on public and tribal lands. In reality, this rule targeted North Dakota and the…
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…
Congressman Cramer and Senator Heitkamp Are Telling Completely Different Stories About Tribe’s Position on Methane Rule
Senator Heidi Heitkamp’s deciding vote killing a “midnight” Obama regulation pertaining to methane emissions has been pretty controversial, but in defending it the Senator claimed she was just following the wishes of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of the Fort Berthold Reservation. “Support for the rule from the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation was…
Ron Ness: Setting The Record Straight On North Dakota Spills
North Dakota has a very strict regulatory system, and it is often one that is looked at by other states – and in some cases, other countries – when they are working to construct their own regulations. This has been evidenced by the parade of state, federal and international officials who have come through our…
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…
Oil Industry Takes "Significant Blow" As Tax Exemption Fails To Trigger
The dreaded and much-talked-about “big trigger” oil tax exemption will not go into effect on June 1 as a slight rebound in oil prices will put the average price for the month of May above the trigger price. If the exemption had triggered it would have eliminated the state’s 6.5 percent oil extraction tax entirely,…
Ron Ness: Ending The Oil Export Ban Would Be Good For North Dakota
Our nation today has an opportunity to change the world for the better and this change can come from North Dakota. Thanks to the Bakken, our state can move the nation toward greater energy security with the potential to once again make the U.S. an energy superpower. Only one obstacle stands in the way: the…
Ron Ness: New York Times Misrepresented North Dakota Story
Within the opening two paragraphs of her story printed on Nov. 23, New York Times Reporter Deborah Sontag wrote, “Halliburton served barbecued crawfish from Louisiana.” I would like to point out that the crawfish served at the “One Million Barrels — One Million Thanks” celebration was boiled, not barbecued. It came from Mississippi, not Louisiana,…