North Carolina landowners would be forced to sell the natural gas under their homes and farms – whether they want to or not – under a fracking recommendation approved Wednesday that’s expected to be enacted by the state legislature this fall.

The proposal by a state study group endorses a rarely used 1945 law that’s never been tried here on the kind of scale that would be required for shale gas exploration, or fracking. Thousands of property owners could potentially be affected in the state’s gas-rich midsection in Lee, Moore and Chatham counties.

Chatham Co. That's me.

This could complicate our plan to GTFO.

Thanks a lot, NC.

However, the state legislature is not bound by the recommendations and will be able to set its own standards, using other states as guides or relying on its own collective judgment. Arkansas requires just 1 percent of a drilling unit to be leased before neighbors are forced to participate, while Virginia requires 25 percent.

1 Percent? So one jackass can fuck all his neighbors ? I can't wait to see what the economic geniuses in the NC legislature come up with...