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Senate Panel To Consider Fracking Ban

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Just hours after the annual legislative session starts Tuesday, a Senate committee will take up a bill that would ban fracking in Florida.

The Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee is slated Tuesday afternoon to consider the bill (SB 442), filed by Sen. Dana Young, R-Tampa.

Fracking is a method of drilling for oil and natural gas that has become controversial in recent years as it has become widely used in other parts of the country.

Florida lawmakers debated a measure last year that would have created a regulatory framework for fracking in the state, but the bill did not pass the Senate. Environmentalists opposed the bill, arguing that it could open the door to fracking.

Young held a news conference in January with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to announce an effort to ban fracking. Supporters of fracking say the practice helps meet energy demands and holds down energy costs for consumers.