President Obama Says Fracking On Federal Land Okay -- Just Be Safe -- March 20, 2015

Folks a lot smarter than I can tell me that I'm wrong, but this story does not sound particularly alarming.

Reuters provides a very, very superficial look at the new rules for fracking on federal lands. About the only information:

The rules require energy companies to reinforce boreholes and otherwise prevent leakage and provide data on the cocktail of chemicals that helps extract crude oil and gas out of the ground. The rules will add transparency to the practice, long shrouded by companies reluctant to reveal "trade secrets."

Most companies are providing data regarding the "cocktails."

New York State, of course, will still ban fracking while they study the issue for another 14 years.

Common Sense Prevails: A Nuisance Suit; Common Sense - 1, Activist Environmentalists - 0

The Billings Gazette reports:

A judge in Casper has sided with the state of Wyoming and ruled against environmentalists who sought to obtain lists of the ingredients that go into hydraulic fracturing fluids.

Environmental groups had requested the ingredient lists from the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, arguing that the public needs to know what chemicals companies are putting underground.

They were denied on the grounds that the lists are trade secrets that may be withheld under Wyoming's open records law. Natrona County District Judge Catherine Wilking has upheld the denial, ruling that the state official who withheld the information acted reasonably.