The Human Cost of Delay in New York — Absentee Husband

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New York’s ongoing delay in allowing shale drilling has very real costs for very real people. Some losers say, “That gas has been in the ground for a million years, it ain’t going anywhere. Let’s take our time and figure this out.” Waiting has a cost too–especially since drilling has proven to be safe in over 60,000 shale wells drilled in other states. The 70,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York has sued Gov. Cuomo because he has, in essence, stolen the football off the field of play and has run out of the stadium with it. Under the rules (i.e. New York law) you can’t do that. You must make a decision in a timely manner because lack of decision is recognized as causing harm. But the JLCNY is not the only party to the lawsuit that would force Cuomo to complete the review process. There are also several individuals suing Cuomo too.

An article in today’s New York Post looks at one of those individuals–Jon Kark. Jon is the owner, with his dad, of a 353-acre farm in Broome County, NY–just a few miles from where MDN editor Jim Willis is writing this very article. Jon is the sixth generation of Karks to own that land. In order to keep the land and the farm operating, Jon is never home–literally. In 2009 Jon had to leave town for a job that will pay the bills, including steep NY taxes assessed on his property. He gets home one or two weeks every year, and that’s it. He’d rather be at home working the farm, but he can’t afford it. His family can’t afford it. He could be at home working the farm, if Cuomo would get off his rear-end, suck it up and make a manly decision for a change, instead of dithering around, showing total lack of leadership…

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