North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalyrmple has worked hard to attract oil drillers, Oliver notes, offering tax breaks and other incentives.
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North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources director Lynn Helms said it was the first time since 2003 that oil production had dropped from July to August. “You have billboards that say “Be Polite” and that’s wonderful, but this has gone too far”, he says. And there are also plenty of legal and regulatory loopholes that have allowed companies to preside over disastrous incidents-even fatal accidents-without really being held accountable. Watch how John Oliver will do it in the clip below! Oliver cited the findings of a Reveal investigation, which found that at least 74 workers have died in the Bakken oil fields since 2006.
To encourage change, Oliver bought a billboard in North Dakota encouraging residents to “Be Angry”.
“For all the good the oil industry has done for the state, it has not been without cost”, he said.
Wrote Politico in June: “Workers Are Paying for Cheap Gas With Their Lives”.
North Dakota’s oil production slipped slightly in August but still remains at a near-record pace despite depressed crude prices.
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State lawmakers were told general fund tax revenues fell $41.7 million short of projections in July and August, the Grand Forks Herald reported, with individual income tax collections $7 million below projections.
