Where Do Things Stand with NY Fracking? ProPublica “Explainer”
The ProPublica website bills itself as “Journalism in the Public Interest.” Although the editors and writers on ProPublica tilt to the left of the political spectrum, we’ve found over the past year or two that most of the time their articles on fracking are pretty balanced–a surprising (and welcomed) aberration in the world of mainstream media. Such is the case with their latest article, a roundup on where things stand in the state of New York with respect to fracking. The writer (an intern!) does a good job of informing casual readers who may not follow the issue closely of just where things stand at this point. We liked the article and thought you might too…
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Pennsylvania’s anti-drilling Democrat Auditor General Eugene DePasquale yesterday released a report (full copy below) criticizing the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) as being disorganized and ill-equipped to handle the rapid expansion of Marcellus Shale drilling in the state. What DePasquale forgot to mention in his report is his own whopping conflicts of interest. While he was a state legislator he pushed hard for so-called alternative energy programs to be funded by the state and as deputy secretary of the DEP he convinced a big wind farm operation to locate in the state. From his first day on the job, he was gunning for the Marcellus industry (see 
For years MDN (and others) have written about the shadowy Park Foundation, a supposedly philanthropic non-profit with offices in Ithaca, NY, as behind some of the most insidious and frankly false “research” that attempts to smear the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. A new article in the summer issue of Philanthropy magazine lays bare the collusion that exists between the Park Foundation and researchers at once-storied institutions like Cornell University. In fact, Park is the funder of many anti-shale groups, including Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, and more than 50 large and small groups. Park has woven a clever web of bought-and-paid for “researchers” and “reporters” at both big and small media outlets to plant false stories about shale gas…
Where to begin? New York’s anti-drillers have sunk to a new low in their irrational quest to eliminate fossil fuels. They’ve resorted to intimidation, threats and now violence against public officials. For extra good measure, they’re poisoning the minds of New York’s school children–using them as props because they can’t get traction from the public for their own bizarro ideas. Let us explain the latest outrage in the antis’ fight to prevent a badly-needed liquid propane storage facility in Schuyler County, NY…