Moving Past Preemption: Enhancing the Power of Local Governments over Hydraulic Fracturing
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Moving Past Preemption: Enhancing the Power
of Local Governments over Hydraulic Fracturing
Rachel A. Kitze*
In the last decade, hydraulic fracturing has transformed
the energy outlook of the United States. Due to improvements
in drilling technology, the United States now has access to 2214
trillion cubic feet of natural gas resources,' enough to last the
country for nearly 100 years.2 As President Barack Obama
stated, We, it turns out, are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas.
We've got a lot of it.3 This unprecedented growth in natural
gas production is due to recent advances in a drilling technique
known as hydraulic fracturing (also called fracking,
hydrofracking, fracing,4 or hydraulic fragmentation by one Io-
wan news station'). Deep wells are drilled up to 10,000 feet un-
* J.D. Candidate 2014, University of Minnesota Law School; B.A. 2011,
St. Olaf College. Many thanks to Charlie Nauen of Lockridge Grindal Nauen,
P.L.L.P. whose guidance and invaluable insights from years of experience as
both professor and practitioner have immeasurably improved this Note. Thank
you to the wonderful and talented board and staff of the Minnesota Law Re-
view, especially Ally Whelan and Emily Marshall for their dedication and hard
work. I would also like to thank my friends and family, most importantly my
parents, Barb and Phil, and my sister Sara for their love and encouragement.
And my heartfelt thanks to Tim Collins, whose unwavering support and end-
less patience have sustained me throughout my time in law school. Copyright
@ 2013 by Rachel A. Kitze.
1. Mason Inman, Estimates Clash for How Much Natural Gas in the
United States, NAT'L GEOGRAPHIC, Feb. 29, 2012, http://news
.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/03/120301-natural-gas-reserves-
united-states/.
2. David B. Spence, Federalism, Regulatory Lags, and the Political Econ-
omy of Energy Production, 161 U. PA. L. REV. 431, 433 (2013).
3. Barack Obama, President of the United States, Remarks by the Presi-
dent on American-Made Energy (Jan. 26, 2012), available at http://www
.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2012/01/26/president-obama-discusses
-blueprint-american-made-energy#transcript.
4. See What Is Shale Gas and Why Is It Important?, U.S. ENERGY INFO.
ADMIN., http://www.eia.gov/energy-in_brief/article/about shale-gas.cfm (last
updated Dec. 5, 2012) [hereinafter EIA, What Is Shale Gas?].
5. Chris Earl, Moratorium Vote Held Off on Allamakee County Frac
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Moving Past Preemption: Enhancing the Power of Local Governments over Hydraulic Fracturing
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