Fracking bill in Florida House easily passes to create a regulatory structure: now on to the Senate

First a question: Would natural gas availability influence a home buyers decision to purchase a home in Lake Worth located in central Palm Beach County? Read about that surprising answer later. First, here is the news from Margie Menzel at the News Service of Florida:

     The bill would set up a state permitting process for fracking and require oil and gas companies to register the chemicals they use on a national website. It would also require the companies to inform the state Department of Environmental Protection of chemicals they inject into the ground — after the fact, not before. And it would set aside $1 million for a study on the impact of fracking.
     "I believe that it improves our environment here in Florida," Rodrigues [Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero] said.
     Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, is sponsoring a similar bill in the Senate.
     The proposal is backed by the Florida Petroleum Council, Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which contend that fracking would boost jobs and energy independence.
     "It's transformed America," Dave Mica of the Florida Petroleum Council told the House panel. "It's made us an energy-producing nation. It's showing up in the prices your constituents pay at the pump." [emphasis added]

Now for the answer, would someone choose to purchase a home in Lake Worth as opposed to other cities in Palm Beach County because of natural gas service? Yes. Many areas in the City of Lake Worth have natural gas service and it's a huge benefit to lower a homes energy costs. An electric dryer is an energy hog, for example.

A few months ago talked to a home buyer in the City and she told me that access to gas for a stove and a grill was the tipping point in her decision to buy a home here. The energy savings are enormous and cooking with gas gives better results than using an electric stove. Another benefit is if the electric power goes out you can still cook meals.

However, it's not all good news for natural gas in Lake Worth. There's still the issue of that capped gas line that no one in the media will touch that's costing the taxpayers $64,000 a month:

Interesting isn't it? Not even The Palm Beach Post will do an article about this.