Proposed Pittsburgh Permanent Drilling Ban May Not be Legal

Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields, who will soon be leaving office, is staunchly anti-drilling. He led the successful effort to have hydraulic fracturing and shale gas drilling banned in the City of Pittsburgh. The ban was enacted by City Council last November. Now that Mr. Shields has landed on the happy shores of no drilling, he wants to burn the ships to ensure future Council members can’t undo all of his good work. His method? Amend the City’s Home Rule Charter to permanently ban drilling anywhere in the city limits.

Mr. Shields has proposed a measure be put on the ballot in November to let voters decide if the Charter should be amended. There’s just one small problem: It’s probably not legal.

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