We here on Say Anything have spent a lot of time carping about this last legislative session.  From spending to taxes to dumb wastes of time like anti-war resolutions and honoring has-been pop stars, it was a bad one.

But there were some bright spots in all that darkness, and here’s one of them.

From the National Association of Manufacturers, commenting on some of the energy-friendly legislation to come out of the legislature this year:

...what’s especially impressive is the whole-scale support for the traditional sources of energy—coal, oil and natural gas—without which this nation’s economy grinds to a halt. To wit:

# A new Pipeline Authority to assist private industry construct additional capacity to ship crude oil, natural gas, carbon dioxide ethanol, biodiesel and other energy products to market. [H.R. 1128]

# A strengthened Transmission Authority to encourage new wind and coal generation.

# A sales and use tax exemption for natural gas production or the construction/expansion of an oil refinery.

# New research dollars through Lignite Vision 21 and the Oil and Gas Research Fund to accelerate development of environmentally friendly production of electricity, natural gas, and alternative fuels, like wind, coal-to-liquid, coal gasification and carbon sequestration technologies.

The Legislature also authorized the Governor to negotiate a tax-sharing and regulatory agreement to encourage oil development on the potentially energy-rich Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, bringing a measure of legal confidence for investors there.

At a time when so many states and local governments (like Boston, for example) are shortsightedly discouraging energy development, it’s a remarkably positive story coming out of North Dakota. And, it’s worth noting that these spending initiatives were made by possible by a healthy state budget, thanks in great part to oil revenues.

Far too often whenever someone talks about business-friendly laws and taxes for the oil/coal industry people get upset.  “But the oil/coal industry is greedy,” they claim.  “Why do we want to help those crooks?”

The simple answer to that is this: Because when we help them, we help ourselves.  In North Dakota that’s doubly true.

On one hand, making it easier and cheaper for the oil/coal industries to exploit our natural resources makes energy cheaper for us.  The fewer taxes these companies have to pay, and the less red tape they have to cut through, the less it costs for them to do business.  And those savings are passed on to us, either by the oil/coal industry hiring more people or simply charging less for its goods.

On the other hand, being friendly with the oil/coal industries ensures that they’ll stay in North Dakota and continue to employ tens of thousands of our citizens (not to mention pay our taxes to pay for public services) instead of going off somewhere else where they could have a more friendly relationship with the powers that be.

North Dakota’s oil and coal industries are a boon for this state.  We should want them here, not drive them away because of silly conspiracy theories about energy prices.