NY Anti-Frackers are Getting Desperate, and it Shows

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Organized opposition to hydraulic fracturing in New York—mostly located in New York City—is getting desperate, and it shows in the shrill tenor of their rallies. They sense that the state Department of Environment Conservation (DEC) is about to release the final final final final version of New York’s drilling rules, called the SGEIS (Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement). And so to turn up the heat, they rally and protest.

Their latest target/tactic? Demand that Gov. Andrew Cuomo withdraw the SGEIS and send it to someone else for an “independent review.” Why?

Because last year the DEC sent select portions of the new SGEIS to the drilling industry for comment a few weeks before publicly releasing the SGEIS, when all of the eco-nuts could then savage it. Why did the DEC send it to the industry first? To comply with a state law requiring them to solicit feedback from the very industry they were about to slap very strict rules on (see this MDN story for background).

It’s all so much political posturing and hot air—but hey, it sells T-shirts and keeps the eco-nuts busy attending meetings. Like the meeting held yesterday in (where else), New York City:

New Yorkers against fracking lined the steps of City Hall Tuesday to call for a new and independent review regarding the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)’s drafted fracking regulations.

“We are calling on Gov. Cuomo to withdraw the DEC’s draft regulations,” said Eric Weltman of Food & Water Watch. “The DEC’s decision to provide the oil and gas industry lobbyist with unfair influence over the regulations has poisoned its authority to be objective in protecting New York from the dangers of fracking.”*

*The Epoch Times (Jul 10, 2012) – Opponents Want Fracking Draft Regulations Withdrawn