The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that cities can’t enforce local laws banning fracking if the state has issued a permit to a driller. The court split 4-3, saying Munroe Falls couldn’t block Beck Energy from drilling on a residential property with permission of the owner and a permit from the Department of Natural Resources, with the majority ruling state law bans local communities from passing ordinances specifically aimed at obstructing drilling activities. Before the arguments last February, Munroe Falls mayor Frank Larson said he worried about what will happen in cities around the state if his lost in court. “When the state decides that when they have something that they consider a statewide issue the municipality’s home rule is going to be trompled.” In his dissent, Justice William O’Neill blasted the state law, saying: “What the drilling industry has bought and paid for in campaign contributions they shall receive.” Heidi Robertson, an environmental law professor at Cleveland
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