There is an interesting out of California where Citadel Exploration, an oil company, has sued the San Benito County for $1.2 billion for banning fracking and oil extraction on land within its jurisdiction. Citadel is arguing that the ban constitutes a regulatory taking and that it is entitled to the value lost, which it says amounts to 20-40 millions barrels of oil and a profit of $1.2 billion. It is a troubling case for environmentalists and land use advocates seeking to place limitations on certain industrial activities viewed as harmful.
At issue is Measure J, which bans all fracking and other high-intensity oil extraction.
For environmentalists, such cases could reignite the debate over constitutional takings: the need to compensate private owners like Seadrift of public easements.
In Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S. 1003 (1992), the Court required compensation for regulatory takings. In that case. South Carolina’s Coastal Zone Management Act (1977) required owners of coast land in “critical areas” near beaches to obtain permits from South Carolina Coastal Council before committing the land to new uses. The Court found that the regulation deprives Lucas of value that had to be returned in the form of public compensation.
One exception is common law nuisance where a coastal authority can show that the regulation is designed to prevent a public nuisance such as run-off or erosion etc.
The burden — both legal and financial — in making such a claim can be high. The county would have to show that fracking causes such harms if it comes down to a Lucas fight — something companies vigorously deny. That could make this an important case and potentially damaging for environmentalists if the courts expand on the burden on states and municipalities in showing harm as an exception to takings compensation.
In the end, San Benito County Supervisor Jerry Muenzer indicated that the effort to get over a billion dollars from the county would be like . . . well … fracking water from a stone: “$1.2 billion. That’s like asking for the moon. The county will file for bankruptcy and reorganize. He’s not going to get anything.”
Source: KSBW
Brilliant. It is an easier way to make money. They don’t have to dig or drill for anything.
AND the oil is still there!
🙂
http://billmoyers.com/2014/01/16/tpp-wikileaked-us-watering-down-enviro-protections-in-secret-trade-deal/
Perhaps because it’s such a secretive thing, few people know about the TPP.
I see the 3 major networks are not even carrying Obama’s speech tonight. That’s more than just a little interesting. The WH is pissed.
Corporations own America so any restriction on what they do with that “ownership” is a taking. The law is just a hammer they wield.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-tpp-and-a-republican-congress/
Jim, perhaps you’re not up to speed on the fast tracking of the TPP.
Dems and cultists are floundering and staggering, like a boxer on the ropes. You can see it on a macro level in the news, and on a micro level here. They are throwing wild punches trying to get off the ropes and back in the fight.
Annie, Learned from the best liers in town. You should be proud.
Carlyle Moulton, Sounds like Obamacare.
So Republicans in the USA want to “Gruber” us over the TPP. Not a squeek of protest out of the very intelligent Republcans about the secrecy and fast tracking of this ” deal”. Where is the outcry over the TPP Republicans?? Why does the new Republican Congress want to keep the details a secret from us? Will we have to wait to find out what’s in it “until after it’s passed” ?
Annie – so, you admit that Gruber and Obama screwed the American people? Thanks for admitting it!
In the battle between ordinary human beings and giant corporations, the giant corporations won.
It was never really a fight. The corporations own the regulators, they write our laws, and they interpret our laws for us. They control enough of the news media to effectively control us. Judges and DA’s are all part of the program too. And, to top it off, they own the prison you’ll go to if you get in their way.
All one needs to know about the TPP and the similar Atlantic deal TTIP is that neither the population nor the legislators who will vote on it in all of the involved countries are allowed to see the details until after it is implemented.
Why do the architects of these trade deals not want anyone to know the details? Because if we knew the details we would be horrified and would oppose it. Whether the Citadel Exploration has any hope of prevailing under current US law, it will certainly have a slam dunk case if the US signs the TPP or TTIP.
From what has been leaked so far both trade pacts contain a wish list of laws to allow international companies to increase the return on intellectual property such as copyrights, and patents. If Australia signs we can expect the so called evergreening of drug patents. Near the expiry of a patent a drug company makes a few tweaks on the drug and gets a patent extension that prevents other manufacturers producing generic versions of the untweaked drug.
TPP is something in which President Obama is siding with the new Republican held Congress on. Think about that Obama haters. Why do we need Nafta on steroids? Hasn’t Nafta already harmed our economy enough? Why are people suing him over other things while ignoring this?
Carlyle,
President Obama has been trying to “fast track” the TPP. Some people refer to that trade pact as “NAFTA on steroids.”
Thanks, JT. I did not know the case law on this issue. The macro issue is the govt. controlling more and more of ALL our lives. Obama has done more to create more libertarians than anyone could have imagined.
Counties do this all the time with regulations on homes, including building codes and zoning..
In our locale, homes that are 100 years old must be up to a code that changes on a seeming monthly basis.
For example, we had to rip out a stable functioning beautiful stair handrail/banister from a 1920s home because it was 1/2 inch short. The original newel post was attached to the framing of the house. The new stairway is ugly, less valuable, and less secure.
Zoning rules also change on a whim. You buy a house in a “residential” area, and 5 years later, someone builds a gas station next door because the zoning suddenly changed. Your home loses value, you get nothing in compensation.
So the county “takes” from us every day.
I said that backwards but you know what I mean.
So could a common thief sue for regulatory takings if a super-wealthy person is unable to prove that the theft of say, thousands of dollars worth of jewelry and cash, did not actually harm the victim because it could be easily replaced?
I hope they win.
San Benito County should just answer Obama did it, so can we.
We’re de facto a banana republic now, so the oil company “owns” nothing. The State merely permits them to operate, and can change their mind on a whim.
The Obama defense. Use it liberally.
If Australia’s boofheaded prime minister signs Australia up to the Trans Pacific Partnership TPP with it mandated Investor State Dispute Resolution Courts manned by partisans of business it can expect to lose lawsuits of this type whenever a government regulation affects the profits of a foreign business, no matter how justifiable the regulation on grounds of protecting health and the environment.