Regulation

Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the following comments about fracking yesterday during a tour of Syracuse, NY economic development projects (in order to shore up his sagging support in Upstate):

Read More “Cuomo Says He Hasn’t Backed Away from Fracking”

The following open letter to Gov. Cuomo is written by attorney Christopher Denton from Elmira, NY.

An Open Letter to the Governor of the State of New York

Read More “Guest Viewpoint: Time for Cuomo to Set a Deadline [Free]”

The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) is a “coalition of coalitions” representing more than 77,000 landowners throughout New York State. Consider it the official, collective voice of landowners interested in allowing shale gas drilling on their land. For many months MDN has marveled at how restrained the JLCNY has been with regard to the foot-dragging on the part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Joe Martens when it comes to the release of new drilling rules. MDN would “shoot from the lip” and say “Sue ‘em!” The JLCNY would calmly say, “Let the process work. In the end, we’ll have the best drilling laws in the world, and no one will be able to say we didn’t take our time and do it right.” And of course they’re correct.

Has the JLCNY finally had enough of the foot-dragging and delay tactics? Have they finally reached their patience limit and are the gloves are about to come off? Here’s a JLCNY press release received by MDN yesterday:

Read More “JLCNY: Gov. Cuomo has Betrayed NY Residents”

Everyone has noticed it: There’s been a change in New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s position on hydraulic fracturing. It had seemed, for over year, that he was charting a path down the middle. He would allow fracking, eventually. Earlier this year he floated the idea of allowing fracking in a limited fashion in a few locations as a test—to closely watch what happens and to alleviate concerns for those who oppose it. He wanted to prove to everyone that it can be done safely. It was a true “wisdom of Solomon” kind of proposal. What could make more sense?

But politics never makes sense, and politics, not science and facts as the governor has long said, has reared its ugly head. And everyone has noticed it. The question is, what or who changed Andy’s mind? Perhaps we’ll never truly know, but a recent article in the New York Times may give us some insight. In a word, what may have turned Andy against fracking was a family confidant.

Read More “Andrew Cuomo’s Fracking Confidant”

Last Friday MDN reported the prediction that New York’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) may well release new drilling rules by Nov. 29 due to an obscure provision in New York law that requires them to adopt said rules one year from the last public hearing (see this MDN story). On Sunday, a DEC spokesperson said the DEC “expects to miss” the Nov. 29 deadline, and in order to avoid restarting the rulemaking process from the beginning, the DEC will hold a public hearing between now and then which in effect restarts the one-year clock ticking all over again.

As reported by the AP:

Read More “NY DEC Dashes Hopes for New Drilling Rules by Nov 29”

Former Gannett reporter and current book author Tom Wilbur (Shale Gas Review) is making a prediction: Gov. Cuomo and the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will either release new shale gas drilling rules by November 29, or file an extension and release them by March 1 of next year. Why? Because that’s exactly one year from the date the DEC held its final public hearing on proposed new fracking rules, and according to a “little-known” and obscure state law, they either have to adopt the rules (within one year) or apply for a 90-day extension.

Tom’s anti-drilling buds are telling him they think the state will move forward this year, by November 29.

Read More “Prediction: NY Will Release New Drilling Rules by Nov 29”

MDN wonders: Do organizations like the anti-drilling Earthworks and the Associated Press share the same office space so they can coordinate their attacks on the natural gas industry? Yesterday MDN told you about the shameful new “study” issued by Earthworks attacking the hard and diligent work of state regulators in overseeing oil and gas drilling (see this MDN story).

At the same time Earthworks was lobbing their bomb into the public discourse, a seemingly related media attack was launched by the AP aimed against New York’s oil and gas regulators at the Dept. of Environmental Conservation. The gist of the piece is that regulators are doing such a poor job of overseeing drilling now, how could they possibly handle new shale drilling should the governor (stupidly) allow it to begin. Here’s how the article starts:

Read More “AP Takes Aim at NY State Oil & Gas Regulators”