New Texas law bans cities from banning fracking, drilling

Governor Greg Abbott has signed into law a prohibition on cities and towns imposing local ordinances preventing fracking and other potentially environmentally harmful oil and natural gas activities.

The much-watched measure sailed through the GOP-controlled Legislature after voters in Denton, a university town near Dallas, banned hydraulic fracturing locally in November.

The new law limits not only the Denton ban but other actions communities could take limiting energy industry activities. It was backed by oil and gas concerns.

Abbott said Monday he was protecting private property rights from the “heavy hand of local regulation.”

He saw no contradiction in new state regulations superseding local voters’ will, saying he believes “individuals have a much better idea how to run their own lives than do a bunch of government officials.”