NY DEC Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel Appointed by Joe Martens in Disarray

An amazingly balanced and non-partisan article by WNYC News delves into the 13-member Advisory Panel appointed by Joe Martens, Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), to advise the DEC on issues with implementing the new Marcellus drilling regulations. The article, which MDN highly recommends you read, points out the confusion among the panel members about what, exactly, they are supposed to do.

It also recounts the rushed and last-minute approach Martens took in creating and appointing members to the panel. The article points out how the panel is stacked with members who are largely anti-drilling (MDN’s words, the article refers to them as environmentalists). Even the so-called industry representative on the panel, Mark Boling from Houston-based Southwestern Energy, is colluding working with the Environmental Defense Fund on a new “industry code of conduct.” He admits his views are not mainstream in the energy industry.

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