Current Event: Energy rich US states move to quash local limits on drilling

• Lawmakers in Texas and energy producing states across the nation are rushing to stop local communities from imposing limits on oil and gas drilling despite growing public concern about the health and environmental of urban areas.
• The slump in oil prices that has led to job losses in the oil patch has only added to the urgency of local drilling bans and other restrictions the industry views as dangerous.
• The number of jobs nationwide in the energy production field has fallen 3.5 percent since December, and Texas alone lost about 25,000 jobs in March, according to federal data.
• Two of the biggest energy producers in the nation, Texas and Oklahoma, are going to ban cities and towns allowing activity considered unreasonable to energy exploration, including limits on fracking.
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