Energy, Environment and Natural Resources
State Policy on Resources
The Dem-NPL Party supports a more comprehensive state policy on oil and gas drilling with respect to impacts on land, water, housing, wild game hunting and other infrastructure.
Pipelines, Transmission Lines and Refinery
The Dem-NPL Party supports that the State ensures that any expansion or modernization of pipelines, transmission lines, and additional oil refining capacity be done in an environmentally and culturally responsible manner.
Investment in Energy Transmission
The Dem-NPL Party supports the State in investing in and development of the infrastructure necessary to have our own natural gas and crude oil refining facilities.
Investment in Renewable Energy
The Dem-NPL Party supports the State investing in and development of the infrastructure necessary to have our own wind power and solar power manufacturing facilities.
Funding for Renewable Energy
The Dem-NPL Party asks the state legislature and Congress to significantly increase funding for research and development of new and renewable fuels and supports incentives which would lead to increased energy efficiency in our homes and businesses to decrease our dependence on oil. This is to include the development and funding of wind and solar energy projects that are environmentally friendly and that can benefit our local communities.
Monitor Energy Portfolio
The Dem-NPL Party supports increased awareness and monitoring of our energy portfolio.
Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Disclosure
The Dem-NPL Party supports state and/or federal legislation that would require oil companies using the technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to disclose the chemicals contained in the fracking fluid to the North Dakota Department of Health for public disclosure.
Environmentally Responsible Development
The Dem-NPL Party supports state and federal legislation that considers environmental responsibility first and foremost in all energy development. Consideration should be given to landowner rights, with damage and reclamation costs being borne by the energy companies.
Natural Gas Distribution to More Communities
The Dem-NPL Party supports the state legislature providing cost sharing and incentives to build and extend natural gas supply and distribution lines to every community in our state.
Oil Siting
The Dem-NPL Party supports the protection of Special Places in ND. Appropriate state and federal agencies must review every drilling permit application for areas within two miles of National and State Parks, National and Historic Sites, US Forest Service Backcountry Recreation Areas, The Missouri, Yellowstone, and Little Missouri Rivers, State Game Management Area and Federal Waterfowl Production Areas and National Wildlife Refuges, and similarly designated areas, to ensure best possible siting of well pads and roads leading to them.
Coal Research
The Dem-NPL supports research into providing coal as more environmentally responsible.
Unitization Secondary Recovery
The Dem-NPL Party urges the legislature to undertake a study and change the unitization law to protect the mineral owners including that state’s mineral interests by making unitization for secondary recovery only.
30 Day Flaring Limit
The Dem-NPL Party supports legislation allowing for flaring of natural gas for only the first 30 days after a well begins producing, with significant, binding penalties for non-compliance.
Oversight Toxic Waste
The Dem-NPL Party supports increased oversight and enforcement of the dumping of toxic and radioactive waste. Furthermore, we support the study of additional means of cataloguing, tracking, disposal, and containment of toxic and radioactive materials.
Water Policy
The Dem-NPL Party supports developing a plan that addresses the short and long-term needs for safe drinking water.
Mineral Leases
The Dem-NPL Party urges the North Dakota Legislature to enact measures that would require forfeiture of leases on the part of oil and gas companies that do not meet the bonus payment terms of a mineral lease.
Enforcement of Regulations
The Dem-NPL supports stricter enforcement of existing rules and regulations on current energy development industries, with an oversight agency that is non-partisan.
Pre-Bonding Insurance
The Dem-NPL supports actual pre-bonding and insurance of oil companies, and their activities, rather than “self-bonding” for spills and incidents.
Salt Water Well Inspections
The Dem-NPL supports frequent inspections of salt water disposal wells for pressure tests, and immediately shut down wells that do not meet the standards.
Pre-testing Refinery Sites
The Dem-NPL supports pre-testing of the air, land and water prior to the development of any new oil refineries or processing structures (to develop a baseline for tests after the facility is in operation); any new construction of an oil refinery should require a full site review and public hearings by the Public Service Commission.
Separation of Marketing and Regulation
The Dem-NPL supports the separation of the marketing and regulation of mineral interests.
Climate Change
The Dem-NPL Party supports taking science-based actions to reduce the threat of climate change and address the economic, social, and environmental impact on North Dakotans and future generations, and in making ethical policy decisions to remediate the environmental and economic effects of climate change.
Climate Change Action
The Dem-NPL supports the creation of a state-funded study commission to identify and evaluate fiscal impacts from climate change and suggest mitigating policies.
Hunting and Fishing
The Dem-NPL supports Legislation to protect hunting, fishing areas for public access. P.L.O.T.S. program is too restrictive.
Aquifers
The Dem-NPL should promote and support changing the law back to its original status to not allow oilfield fracking companies to purchase water from commercial aquifers (aquifer water must be preserved for farming and ranching).
Job Protection and Transition in the Industries
The Dem-NPL recognizes the laws of physics, new technologies, and economic market forces will be challenging the recovery of fossil fuels which will ultimately strip North Dakota of many high paying jobs. We call upon the State of North Dakota to expand its workforce development and career transition programs in all areas.
EPA
The Dem-NPL supports the continuation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and opposes any attempt to de-fund its operational budget to a level that it cannot function.