NY Health Com. Nirav Shah Says Fracking Health Review Almost Done
An interesting development in the “As Cuomo Dithers” fracking soap opera. Freshly back from a road trip to confer with researchers studying the health effects of fracking, New York State Commissioner of Health Nirav Shah appeared at a press conference yesterday with Gov. Cuomo. In a surprise announcement, Shah said he will render his judgment on the question of frack/no frack “in weeks.” Cuomo himself made some encouraging remarks at the presser too, including his belief that the two-year moratorium bill passed by the NY Assembly last Wednesday is going nowhere fast.
You may recall we are currently waiting for Shah’s review and official opinion on whether or not fracking as done under the rules proposed by the Dept. of Environmental Conservation would negatively impact “public health.” Shah and his assistants went on a road trip to find out what they could from fracking health studies now under way (see Deadline for NY Fracking Regs Slips Again…Or Does It?). One of those studies, being performed by Geisinger Health Systems, has only just received $1 million in funding and preliminary results won’t be available for at least a year. Anti-drillers celebrated and took that to mean fracking in New York will be on hold for several more years. Shah and Cuomo’s comments from yesterday may have burst their bubble…
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Yesterday, as expected, the heavily Democrat New York State Assembly passed a bill (103 to 40) that would ban fracking in the state for yet another two years—even though fracking has already been banned for nearly five years (a copy of the bill as passed is embedded below). We’re not quite sure what another two years will tell us we don’t already know after five—but that’s Democrat jihadists for you. Harsh word there—jihad—but it was aptly used on the floor of the Assembly by a Republican assemblyman to describe what’s really going on in New York—and we concur.
Is New York doomed when it comes to the issue of fracking? Maybe. In addition to Cuomo being the ditherer-in-chief and failing to lead on the issue of fracking, an important group of state senators—the Independent Democrat Conference (they share control of the Senate with Republicans)—yesterday proposed a two-year further delay in fracking. Previously the state Assembly, which is heavily Democrat and is led by the nefarious Sheldon Silver, has pushed legislation to kill fracking. Sliver is supposed to be make yet another announcement today (Wednesday) along those lines.
If the situation with fracking in New York weren’t so tragic, it would be funny. Shakespearian, even. MDN told you yesterday about the Andy and Junior show—how Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ex-brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spilled the beans that Cuomo was ready to allow fracking last month and then it was (trumpet fanfare ta da da da) Junior to the rescue! RFK aka Junior says he talked Andy clean out of it (see 
The truth came out over the weekend from, of all places, the Associated Press (see below). New York Gov. Andrew (“Andy”) Cuomo’s former brother-in-law, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (we’ll call him “Junior”), couldn’t resist his “the whole world revolves around me” narcissistic tendencies to let the media know that he, Junior, is the real reason fracking in New York is now dead.
It’s official: President Obama will nominate MIT physicist Ernest “Hair” Moniz to be the next Secretary of Energy, and Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency. We call Dr. Moniz “Hair” because of his “wavy mop” of gray hair—you’ll know what we mean when you see his picture.