As a NY resident I oppose fracking period.

He has already screwed up New York's smaller districts, with his 2% tax cap on school taxes. Now he is trying to be a good Republican and screw up our environment.

Can we find a hooker for this guy??

actually "breaking news" -- for this plan has been known for well over a year -- I absolutely do appreciate your posting it. Thank you.

My older daughter graduates on June 23. After that, I suppose that I'm going to have to do another hunger strike, this one in Albany, outside the governor's office. I'd really rather not .... the one in January did not help with my already failing health. But it is the only option that I can come up with at this point in time.

I wish you had better options. Fracking should be banned everywhere until it can be done with no damage to the environment and water supply.

I'm in western MA now, but I'm from the Hudson Valley and have spent much time hiking the Catskills so I'm hopeful they will be protected. I would imagine that the payments from the gas companies are very attractive to some needful families in rural western NY and puts Gov. Cuomo under some pressure to allow drilling there.

We live in Broome county. About 20 years ago a gas well was drilled about a half mile from us. It was the old way, drilling straight down. 30 days of noise and bright lights. They didn't hit gas and filled the well. Now a fracking well is going to be drilled about a quarter mile from us. Most of our neighbors are poor and would love $500 per acre. The few homes around us share a common water shed. When one of our neighbors drilled a new well 10 years ago, our water turned to sulfur and we had to get a contraption to deal with it. We have 11 acres and stand to make money but know our most treasured asset is our water. We had it tested many years ago, before the sulfur problem, for everything and it only showed up as hard. The pirates know that by destroying our economy, they gain the leverage to do what they want. Desperate people will agree to most anything. Across the boarder in PA the gas companies have made a mess. We've met people who are moving away from the area because of the noise and dirt. Oh well....I'm off to Meals On Wheels. There are others much worse off than us.

in it's current (unhealthy and destructive) form should be federally banned.
Common Americans (us) have become impoverished enough by our corptocracy that I am surprised that people selling their body parts hasn't reached epidemic proportions in America.

The real point is that Cuomo is opening up NYS to fracking. He wants to spin it as though he is curtailing some abuse by using the word "limit." It is not limiting.

The whole thing sucks. Cuomo is a corporatist, just another Blue Dog Democrat under the control of big money.

I live next to steuben county and its mostly farm land, Theres more no fracking signs then mailboxs. I know of no community thats in favor of this , But this is a republican controlled area.

so his proclamation means absolutely nothing.

Jeebus do politicians think we're stupid...

for decades, this is what I've been told,
mostly by realtors. I had always wanted a 'passive' (i.e. not obtained with fracking) gas well on whatever farm as I believed it would be 1) cheaper, 2) taking advantage of the Earth's natural bounty, much like solar or wind; and 3) passive gas well wouldn't be harmful to the environment.

Are you saying there is a somewhat continuous 'gas table' under the Earth's crust such as there is with water?
--I'm not saying this to be argumentative, it's just that I'm seriously thinking of buying a farm in PA/OH where there have been what I call 'passive gas wells' (non-fracked) and I'd like to know if, if there is a gas table or more areas than just the area close to the PA border (which is the only area I've ever seen/heard of with gas wells), it won't be harmful to the environment.

Thanks!
...then I'd have to rethink my needs if all gas wells were 'bad'

compare it to water -- no self-respecting Water Man could -- there are substantial amounts of gas located in other parts of the state. (There are, for example, other shale formations here than the Marcellous, all containing gas.)

Cuomo selected the Southern Tier for sacrifice for reasons very different than the amount of gas potentially available. These reasons are exclusive to his plans to run for president in 2016. They include the relativeminority of registered Democrats in upstate New York, his belief that he can gain a large, cross-over republican base of support; and his willingness, even eagerness, to prostitute himself for gas industry campaign donations.

Too often, in my opinion, we hear the term "sociopath" (or "psychopath&quot as a description for ambitious politicians. It's not accurate -- they are frequently anti-social, but do demonstrate a bonding with the 1%. Yet, I believe that Andrew Cuomo is a sociopath. I base that primarily upon information I've heard from one of his relatives. And I say this as a person who thought very highly of Mario Cuomo.

So what is your opinion of the environmental impact on previously drilled, non-fracked gas wells? I'll now research it but would love to hear your take on it

that vertical drilling -- as was done in the past -- might represent a compromise solution to the on-going conflict. There are, of course, risks involved, but they are far less than with horizontal hydrofracking. At the same time, I know that our culture needs to invest in finding more natural, renewable forms of energy.

Last edited Wed Jun 13, 2012, 10:58 PM - Edit history (1)

At the same time, I know that our culture needs to invest in finding more natural, renewable forms of energy.

It obeys gravity.