NY Health Dept Fracking Report Based on Anti-Drilling “Research”
The most compelling “let the science decide” reason for banning fracking in NY given by Gov. Andrew Cuomo? Because his hand-picked Commissioner of the Dept. of Health, Howard Zucker, said he wouldn’t let his own kids play outside near a fracking site. If you actually read the biased report filed by Zucker, you find the following: a) Zucker says there are no scientific conclusions, as of yet, that fracking harms “public health”–he clearly admits it, and b) he laundry lists a bunch of “studies” and reports that are not peer reviewed, not published, and funded by anti-drilling groups to disparage fracking. He overlooked and left out published, peer reviewed studies that say fracking doesn’t harm people. That is, Zucker stacked the deck, he loaded the dice–whatever metaphor you want to use. The outcome was predetermined (a political decision by Cuomo) and Zucker prostituted himself and has permanently damaged his own reputation by being the “fall guy” for Cuomo’s decision. We expect it’s a quid pro quo–Zucker finds against fracking in return for moving from “Acting” Commissioner to full Commissioner at the DOH–a job he’s clearly not qualified for. Keep an eye out for Zucker’s permanent appointment in the near future. When you see it, you’ll know the fix was in…
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Yesterday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo held a rare cabinet meeting to discuss a variety of issues. The main focus of the meeting, however, was to announce Cuomo’s decision to ban fracking in New York. NY State Dept. of Health Howard Zucker presented his agency’s “review” of so-called impacts of fracking on public health. The entire charade was well-scripted to insulate Cuomo from the decision to ban fracking in the state, making it seem as if “science” has determined fracking is not safe. Zucker recounted the process his agency pursued in reviewing available studies and evidence of the possible affects of shale drilling on those who live near it. Zucker’s repeated claim was that there is not enough evidence, not enough “gold standard” studies thus far, to prove that fracking is not a health risk. Zucker intentionally chose prove a negative, which is a logical fallacy (you can’t prove a negative). Immediately following Zucker’s dog and pony show, NY Commissioner for the Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Joe Martens, said a) with all of the town bans happening, fracking would only be allowed in maybe 30% of the state, that the economic benefits are far less than originally thought, and b) given Zucker’s findings that fracking may not be safe, he (Martens) would close out the draft regulations, known as the SGEIS, and that he (Martens) would not allow fracking for the foreseeable future. Cuomo pretentiously said, “I don’t even think I have a role here.” Below we have the “report” from Zucker, a video of the cabinet meeting, and reaction to this carefully scripted and choreographed decision…
Once again New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being a tease with regard to the fracking issue. Question is, do we believe him this time? Or is this yet another empty promise? During this fall’s single/only gubernatorial debate, Cuomo was asked about the fracking issue and he said a report from the state Dept. of Health on the fracking issue is due by the end of this year (now two weeks away). At the time, his harried campaign staff ran around after that off-the-cuff remark to “explain” what he really meant by it (see