Laws should provide stability

Laws should provide stability

Martinsburg, W.Va., Journal: Virtually no one involved in enacting new regulations for the gas and oil drilling industry in West Virginia thought the package was perfect. But legislators with different points of view recognized the measure, approved last month, was a good compromise.

Now, with legislators back in Charleston for their regular session of the year, some among them want to amend the still-new law..

One reason the gas industry embraced the new law, despite some reservations about details, was that it provided an atmosphere of regulatory certainty. Major changes would do worse than eliminate stability. They would send a message to industry that the West Virginia Legislature cannot make up its mind.