MAJOR COURT DECISION – AT 9:55 A.M. ET:  This may well go largely unnoticed because so much attention today will be on the Indiana primary, but it is a major state court decision that, we hope, will lead to some common sense throughout the legal system.  From the Washington Times:

DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court dealt a devastating setback Monday to the state’s environmental movement by throwing out local bans on hydraulic fracturing.

The court ruled that the outright ban approved in Longmont and five-year moratorium passed in Fort Collins conflict with state law authorizing and regulating hydraulic fracturing, an extraction process used by the oil and gas industry.

Dan Haley, president and CEO of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, which challenged the bans in court, called the decision “not just a win for the energy industry but for the people of Colorado who rely on affordable and dependable energy and a strong economy.”

“It sends a strong message to anyone trying to drive this vital industry out of the state that those efforts will not be tolerated at any level,” Mr. Haley said in a statement.

Meanwhile, opponents of fracking decried the ruling, saying it flies in the face of a community’s ability to safeguard its health.

“Today’s decision deals a devastating blow not just to Longmont residents, but to all Coloradans who have been stripped of a democratic process that should allow us the right to protect our health, safety and property from the impacts of this dangerous industrial activity,” said Lauren Petrie, Rocky Mountain region director with Food & Water Watch.

Colorado moved to the center of the anti-fracking movement with measures approved by voters in a half-dozen communities, primarily liberal college towns with little or no energy-industry ties, to stop oil and gas development, starting with the fracking ban added to the Longmont city charter in 2012.

COMMENT:  I don't deny that fracking has its problems and its risks, but these, as with any technology, are being worked out.  Fracking has enormous advantages, the first being that it brings America closer to energy independence.  It has allowed previously untapped energy sources to be tapped.

Despite all the fashionable yapping about "green energy," this country, and indeed the developed world, will be dependent on fossil fuels for decades to come, maybe even for a century.  Fracking will keep the cost of those fuels down, and strengthen economic growth. 

May 3, 2016