Because the science firmly and overwhelmingly shows fracking to be safe and not a systemic threat to groundwater – nor does it cause cancer, asthma, or birth defects (as is claimed by the anti-human, environmental Left) – I’ll assume that the Oregon House’s decision to vote for this bill was purely for superstitious reasons. It’s the only logical explanation, because there is no scientific justification for banning an industry that has created billions upon billions of dollars in new wealth and is single-handedly responsible for 63 percent of the drop in U.S. carbon emissions over the past decade, according to the International Energy Agency Never mind that this industry can improve the state’s economy and bring in sorely needed jobs and tax revenue. The ban gives a bunch of clueless tree huggers the willies, so the entire state gets to suffer. Historian Paul Johnson once wrote that modern environmentalism is ‘emotionalism masquerading as science.’ That is certainly proving to be the case in Oregon, and the House has decided to be swept along in hysteria.