Federal Court Upholds Private Property Rights in Mora County: On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico overturned Mora County’s ban on hydraulic fracturing, which it enacted in 2013. This week’s ruling is a significant victory for private property rights. County governments do not have the right to infringe upon the constitutional rights of the citizens they are elected to serve. Expressly prohibiting all resource activities denies private property owners the ability to make a living by helping to power the nation. Not only was the original ban a deprivation of rights, it was unnecessary. Numerous studies have shown that hydraulic fracturing does not contaminate drinking water. Oil and gas production has generated revenues that New Mexico has used to enhance education and health care. Banning natural resource exploration would have set a dangerous precedent and could have severely impacted future state funding. It also could have paved the way for local governments to impose restrictions that would deny private landowners the right to manage other resources on their land – like livestock, timber, and crops. I am pleased that the District Court came to this conclusion and am confident that future rulings will mirror this one. #NM
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 04:17:49 +0000
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