Colorado Gov. Says He Drank Fracking Fluid

John Hickenlooper thinks fracking is environmentally safe—and he's willing to put his stomach where his mouth is. The Colorado governor actually downed a glass of Halliburton's fracking fluid to prove it was non-toxic, he revealed yesterday. "You can drink it. We did drink it around the table, almost ritual-like, in a funny way," he told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, according to the Washington Times. "They’ve invested millions of dollars in what is a benign fluid in every sense."

Halliburton says the fluid is made completely of "ingredients sourced from the food industry," and hence is safe for consumption. But Hickenlooper warned the Senate panel against forcing the company to reveal that formula, saying that if Colorado had done so, "they wouldn't bring it into our state." Al Franken joked that the whole episode sounded like a weird, occult affair. "There were no religious overtures," Hickenlooper assured him. (More fracking stories.)