But cap-and-trade will DOOM us

What will we do if we'll eventually be required not to waste resources?

North Dakota produced a record 62.8 million barrels of oil last year, up nearly 18 million barrels from 2007. Natural gas, a byproduct of oil production, was pegged at 86 billion cubic feet — of which 26 billion cubic feet was "flared" because of the lack of collecting systems and pipelines needed to move it to market, said Lynn Helms, director of the state Department of Mineral Resources. [...]

Less than 1 percent of natural gas is flared from oil fields nationwide, and less than 3 percent worldwide, said Amy Sweeney, a statistician for the Energy Information Administration in Washington, D.C.

North Dakota flaring nearly a third of its natural gas "obviously is an anomaly," she said.

"We are burning a commodity but we really don't have a choice because nobody wants the oil wells to stop producing," said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, a Bismarck-based group that represents about 160 companies.

Ness said the oil boom, led by the Bakken shale formation in western North Dakota, also spurred record natural gas production that was more than the pipeline infrastructure could handle, he said.

"Oil production increased 73 percent last year so there was no way around it," Ness said. "Nobody wants to burn a valuable resource."

If they can't handle the excess natural gas, maybe they shouldn't have been allowed to DRILL BABY DRILL in the first place.