You don't have the right to know you're being poisoned. At least, not in Wyoming. Yesterday, County District Judge Catherine Wilking ruled against environmental groups fighting to make public the list of toxic ingredients used in hydraulic fracking fluid. According to Judge Wilking, Wyoming's state oil and gas supervisor was authorized to withhold the information, because the list of chemicals is considered a trade secret.

Halliburton, one of the companies involved in the 2010 BP Gulf Disaster, argued that if they disclosed the makeup of their fracking fluids, competing companies would be able to reverse engineer the toxic sludge. So, not only does Halliburton get to control the controversial hydraulic fracturing industry in Wyoming, but this ruling allows them to socialize all external costs.

Without knowing what chemicals are used in the process, people can't blame Halliburton when they get sick, or when their groundwater becomes contaminated. And it will be John Q Taxpayer picking up the tab when people can't cover healthcare or clean up related costs. Corporate power in our nation is out of control. It's even worse that Judges like Catherine Wilking are making that power even stronger.