Gas-drilling foes in Pa. trying local referenda, believed to be the first such votes in nation

"Challengers to natural gas drilling are taking a new approach in Pennsylvania, putting the rights of energy companies to drill in the massive Marcellus Shale basin on the ballot in what are believed to be the nation's first voter initiatives seeking to ban such activity," The Wall Street Journal reports. (WSJ map)

The referenda will be in Peters Township and State College, and maybe Warren. Gas companies argue that state law pre-empts such local legislation. "Such complete bans on drilling have yet to be ruled on by a court in Pennsylvania, but legal experts are doubtful they would survive," Kris Maher writes. A judge threw out a ban in Morgantown, W. Va. Opposition to drilling centers on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in which water, chemicals and sand at high pressure are used to release gas from the deep, dense shale.