New York State passes three-year moratorium on Fracking

[Champion Jack]

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Robert Sweeney today announced the Assembly passed legislation establishing a statewide, three year moratorium to allow for further study of hydraulic fracturing, a horizontal drilling process used to extract natural gas and oil, and its potential to contaminate drinking water supplies and harm the environment.

"We have heard from thousands of residents across the state about many issues associated with hydrofracking, and prudent leadership demands that we take our time to address all these concerns," said Silver. "We do not need to rush into this. The natural gas deposits within the Marcellus Shale are not going to go anywhere. Before hydrofracking can be authorized, we need the best scientific information available to help us make informed decisions that will not compromise the safety of our drinking water, public health and the environment."

http://assembly.state.ny.us/Press/20140616a/
Wish the other states here in the sacrifice zone would wake the hell up

[DLnyc]

1. I think the Assembly passed it, but it still needs the Senate and the Governor to approve

http://ecowatch.com/2014/06/17/new-york-fracking-moratorium-senate/

“We thank the Assembly for listening to the medical experts by overwhelmingly passing a moratorium on fracking to protect New Yorkers from the devastating health and environmental impacts,” Alex Beauchamp of Food & Water Watch and New Yorkers Against Fracking said in a statement. “Now, we’re urging Gov. Cuomo and the State Senate to stand up against the out-of-state oil and gas industry, and stand up for our state’s health, environment and long-term economy by rejecting fracking.”

A good start, but not a done deal yet, I think.

[Jim Lane]

3. Correct -- and those are major obstacles.

The State Senate is controlled by a Republican-ConservaDem coalition. Cuomo on fracking has been kind of like Obama on the Keystone pipeline -- keep kicking the can down the road so that neither side feels that it has finally and definitively lost.

[malthaussen]

2. Somewhere, I imagine H2O man is smiling.

A step in the right direction. I guess it proves community action can work.

-- Mal