UPDATE (June 3, 2015): On May 29, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law a bill prohibiting local cities and counties from banning fracking operations. The bill allows communities to issue “reasonable” restrictions dealing with traffic and noise, but all other oil and gas drilling operations will be regulated by the state. This means all drilling operations will be overseen by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, made up of three Republicans, two of whom have ties to the petroleum industry.

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There is a new paradox emerging in the fracking debate.  

Cutting carbon emissions from U.S. power plants will help combat climate change, but it can also substantially reduce illnesses and deaths from other types of air pollution. Scientists from Syracuse, Harvard, and Boston universities compared the health impacts of three alternative policies related to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed carbon standards for existing power plants, and they found that increasing energy efficiency would be one of the most effective ways to cut power plant emissions and protect our health.

UPDATE (5/15/2015): Amtrak announced yesterday that it would have Positive Train Control up and operating on its heavily traveled Northeast Corridor routes before the end of the year. Amtrak officials also told members of Congress that Positive Train Control has been installed in the area of Tuesday's crash, but it was still undergoing testing and had not yet been activated. 

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