New York

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    Antis Apoplectic at Sight of Steam Coming from NY Power Plant

    Do the anti fossil-fuel foes in Orange County, NY still not get it? Do they not understand a new gas-fired power plant is about to go online? Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) is building a legal, legitimate, safe, low-emissions electric generating plant in Wawayanda. The plant is almost done and is now preparing for commissioning. This is the same facility Manhattanite Hollywood star James Cromwell (with a summer home in the area) has protested over the past few years (see our stories here). This is the same facility that will be fed by a 7.8-mile natural gas pipeline that connects to the Millennium Pipeline, being fought tooth and nail by Andrew Cuomo’s corrupt Dept. of Environmental Conservation (see NY DEC Asks Court to Toss FERC Order re Millennium Pipe Project). One fact remains: the plant is built and it will go online–soon. Last Friday crews were cleaning in the plant, using low-pressure steam to clean the piping in advance of the commissioning/start-up process. Some of the steam (water vapor, H2O) escaped into the air and area antis were prostrate on the ground, seized with fear that the plant had started operating and was using oil to power it. Antis are still in 100% complete denial that the plant is about to start up–within WEEKS. An area newspaper ran a story which unintentionally made the antis look foolish–frightened at the site of water vapor (i.e. steam)–referring to the steam as “plumes.” The story magically disappeared from the newspaper’s website a day later–but not before we grabbed a copy…
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    NG Advantage Virtual Pipe Hearing in Fenton an Eye-Opener for MDN

    Last night MDN editor Jim Willis attended a Zoning Appeals Board hearing in the Town of Fenton (near Binghamton) where board members held a public hearing on a proposed virtual pipeline (i.e. compressor station) application by NG Advantage. It was, for Jim, a real eye-opener–causing him to reassess previous comments he made about the people opposing the project. Let’s begin with a brief background and the purpose of the hearing. NG previously filed an application with the Town of Fenton to build a natural gas compressor station/trucking facility in the very corner of the township, where it borders other towns/communities (bedroom communities). The people in those adjoining communities, when they learned of the plan, were upset that they had not been notified of the plan. In short order lawsuits were filed, and a county judge ruled that the Town of Fenton Planning Board did not take a hard enough look at environmental and traffic issues related to their approval of NG’s plan (see Judge Rules Against Broome Virtual Pipe, NG Advantage to Try Again). That forced NG to reapply for permits to build the facility. The area is zoned light industrial, allowing certain uses. Among the uses in that area are freight/trucking facilities. Not on the list are compressor stations. A Fenton building inspector researched the issue and agreed (with NG) that the facility fits the definition of a freight/trucking facility. That determination was immediately appealed by a number of people and organizations, including the local Chenango Valley School District. The meeting last night was to hear arguments for and against the finding that the facility is a freight/trucking facility and qualifies as an acceptable use in that zone. There were about 200 or so present for the hearing. Passions ran high. We’d say about three-fourths present were against and one-fourth in favor, judging from applause following various speakers. We will outline the evening and the testimony given below, but right up front we want to apologize to those opposing the project. In previous posts we used strong language to describe them, including the phrase “selfish antis” and the word “bullies.” That was wrong and we retract those statements. While we still disagree with those opposing this facility, we listened closely to their arguments and to their hearts. We found the vast majority speaking against the NG facility were not your typical anti-fossil fuel protesters (although there were a few of those there too). Instead, we found they are simply everyday folks who fervently do not want this facility in their neighborhood for a variety of reasons, including (yes) protection of their children. We heard and appreciate their arguments, and we want to acknowledge their position and attempt to fairly and dispassionately state what that position is…
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    A Sad Milestone: 10 Years Today Since NY First Banned Fracking

    My heart breaks for my fellow New Yorkers. Who could possibly have thought 10 years ago that a decade later there would still be no shale drilling in New York State? MDN’s “right hand man,” Chris Acker, was awake at the stroke of midnight last night and snapped the screenshot below, marking the exact 10-year anniversary for NY’s frack ban. The ban first started as a “temporary” moratorium–as these things always do. “Just give us a little more time to get the regulations right.” The “little more time” turned from months into years, and years have accumulated into (now) decades. It’s the standard liberal/anti playbook: Delay, Deny, and then Defend the indefensible actions taken. Our beloved state is rife with corruption–at the highest levels. Everyone knows our governor, Andrew Cuomo, is corrupt. A number of the people around him, some of his closest confidants, are either in jail or on trial. But somehow he escapes the long arm of the law. Cuomo has caved to pressure from his extreme left in directing the Dept. of Environmental Conservation to not only ban fracking, but also block and obstruct pipelines. It is sick and disgusting. Cuomo has stripped Constitutional property rights away from thousands of New Yorkers–and nobody says or does anything. This is how tyranny takes root and grows. NY is a case study. Look at the country of Venezuela today–that’s what NY will be in 30 years. Come back and read it here on MDN 30 years from now (when we’re dead and gone) to see that we were right. At any rate, as long as we have breath, we will continue to fight the good fight against the forces of evil and darkness here in NY…
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    NY DEC Asks Court to Toss FERC Order re Millennium Pipe Project

    Millennium Pipeline is building a tiny, 7.8 mile pipeline in Orange County, NY that will connect the main Millennium pipeline to the CPV Valley Energy Center gas-fired electric plant. Both projects are currently under construction. Millennium’s project, called the Valley Lateral Project, was opposed by the corrupt Andrew Cuomo Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The DEC refused to grant necessary permits for the federal project, so the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted to overrule DEC and allow it to be built anyway (see History Made! FERC Overrules NY DEC on Millennium Pipe Permit). The DEC took FERC to court, but in December, the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the DEC’s request to block the beginning of construction (see Fed Court Denies NY DEC Bid to Block Power Plant Pipe Construction). Construction subsequently began immediately. The DEC, no doubt goosed on by the corrupt Cuomo, has just come back to the Second Circuit with a different request. This time the DEC wants the court toss out FERC’s approval of the project, saying if the FERC approval stands, any company could file a half-baked (i.e. “incomplete” according to DEC standards) application for a water crossing permit and that doesn’t give DEC enough time to chase in a completed application. In other words, companies would “run out the clock” by saying DEC took more than a year to approve an application. DEC calls it “sandbagging” by delaying important information. Somehow DEC’s protestations ring particularly hollow, since they themselves are famous for sandbagging…
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    Constitution Pipeline Appeals NY Fight Directly to U.S. Supreme Court

    U.S. Supreme Court

    “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” – Mark Twain (and Constitution Pipeline). Last week it was our duty to report the sad news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found they could not override the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) decision (under pressure from the corrupt Andrew Cuomo) to block the Constitution Pipeline (see Death of the Constitution Pipeline? FERC Refuses to Overrule NY DEC). FERC found, after an exhaustive investigation, that the DEC had suckered Constitution into refiling a second time, restarting the one-year clock under which NY could render a decision about the pipeline. With four days left on the reset clock, DEC issued a denial of Constitution’s request for a federal water crossing permit (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). Constitution went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to overturn DEC’s decision, but ultimately failed (see Court Rejects Constitution Pipe’s Case Against NY DEC; Now What?). With FERC refusing to act, we asked the question last week, Is this the death of the $683 million, 124-mile pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY to move Marcellus gas into NY and New England? We reached out to Williams and MDN was first to report that Williams said they would continue to fight. And so they have! In a statement issued Tuesday, Williams (i.e. Constitution Pipeline) said they have appealed the Second Circuit’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court (full copy of the appeal below). Williams maintains if the Second Circuit’s decision upholding the corrupt DEC is allowed to stand, it sets a dangerous precedent for rogue states like NY who refuse to obey the strict interpretation of the law. That is, it allows states like NY to simply reinterpret the law any old which way they want. And that can’t stand…
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    Death of the Constitution Pipeline? FERC Refuses to Overrule NY DEC

    This is a bitter and sad day. The five Commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released a decision yesterday (copy below) that FERC will not overrule an illegal decision by the corrupt Cuomo Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to block construction of the Constitution Pipeline (which FERC approved in 2014). Is this truly “lights out” for the Constitution? It would seem so. Cuomo’s DEC took more than two years to evaluate and eventually reject the Constitution Pipeline–a $683 million, 124-mile pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY to move Marcellus gas into NY and New England (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). Constitution went to federal court to overturn that decision, but ultimately failed last August (see Court Rejects Constitution Pipe’s Case Against NY DEC; Now What?). But then a ray of hope appeared in the galaxy. FERC overruled NY DEC in another pipeline case, so Constitution filed a request with FERC to overrule NY DEC in their case (see Constitution Pipeline Asks FERC to Override NY DEC). FERC wanted to overrule DEC again. You can read between the lines and detect it in yesterday’s decision. But ultimately FERC could not overrule the DEC because the DEC rejected the permit with four days left ticking on a one-year clock (we explain it all below). So this question: Are all avenues exhausted for Constitution? Is the ray of hope in the galaxy now extinguished? Will evil (i.e., the Cuomo-corrupted DEC) rule the galaxy? According to Williams, Constitution’s builder, the answer is an emphatic, “NO!” Williams will first file with FERC, asking them to rehear their decision (which we don’t think is likely). If FERC denies the rehearing request, Williams is prepared to appeal FERC’s decision to federal court…
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    Following Constitution Pipe Decision, NY Virtual Pipe Now Vital

    1/24/18 Note: We have edited this post to be less incendiary and more respectful of the opposing viewpoint.

    Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected a request by Constitution Pipeline to overrule the (very corrupt) New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation and allow construction of the pipeline to commence (see our lead story today: Death of the Constitution Pipeline? FERC Refuses to Overrule NY DEC). As we report in that story, Williams is not (yet) giving up the hope and dream of building the Constitution. However, given that tree clearing for the pipeline would have to begin now, and be done by the end of March (in order to save the bats–don’t ask), another year will go by before the Constitution could even begin construction. And it will take a year to build. That’s IF Williams prevails in court. In the meantime, businesses in New York State are DESPERATE to receive shipments of natural gas. Major employers in the Southern Tier of New York had planned to tap into the Constitution and use cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas from Pennsylvania, saving them money and lowering emissions. Without the Constitution, what can these employers do? Yes, they can leave the state (and some already have). But there is a solution. NG Advantage is planning to build a “virtual pipeline” in the Town of Fenton, on the outer edge of Binghamton, NY (Broome County). A virtual pipeline is a compressor plant (series of compressor plants) that grabs gas from a pipeline–in this case the Millennium Pipeline–and compresses it and loads it onto special tractor trailers that then deliver the gas to industrial customers like manufacturing plants, hospitals, and even small regional gas distribution systems servicing residential homes. NG’s project got derailed last year when a group of residents living nearby sued, stopping the project in its tracks (see Broome Virtual Pipe Project in Limbo, Fenton Board Refuses to Act). The residents claim three trucks per hour going through side streets will negatively alter the neighborhood. It’s bogus. NG is undaunted. They have patiently, calmly and repeatedly reached out to the community to answer questions and address concerns. NG has more than bent over backwards in an attempt to work with community. NG followed the judge’s directive and refiled the project with the Town of Fenton for a second time. There is a Fenton zoning board hearing at 6 pm on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at the Port Crane Fire Department to consider NG’s refiled request. Residents who are opposed are already gearing up to pressure board members. Pro-gas folks need to show up in large numbers to show the zoning board there is support for this vital project. Let’s not let the other side win this one! Jobs in, indeed the future of, the Southern Tier depend on it…
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    NYC Commits Fossil Fuel Suicide – Sues Big Oil, Ending Investments

    New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is clinically insane. It’s time to put him in a straitjacket and prevent him from doing any more damage to a once-great city. de Blasio is using city resources to sue five oil companies, blaming them for “climate change”–the hoax that mankind is causing the earth to warm at an apocalyptic rate. The theory behind global warming is that burning fossil fuels (extracted by the five companies) releases carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere where the CO2 then acts like a canopy over the earth, trapping in heat from the sun, causing the earth to warm. And, as the theory goes, Mom Earth is warming up to such a degree that it will “soon” (any year now) kill plants, animals, mankind–all living things. All sorts of ills are laid at the feet of so-called global warming, now called “climate change”, including earthquakes, major storms, hurricanes, pestilence, racism. No, we’re not exaggerating. EVERYTHING is blamed on global warming. Even the record cold temperatures that we’ve experienced in the northeast are blamed on global warming! Wait–how can that be? How can a canopy effect trapping heat cause COLDER temps? Obviously it can’t–but these people will believe anything. Yes, CLINICALLY INSANE. But maybe not totally insane, because at its root, de Blasio’s move is not *really* about global warming and preserving the planet–it’s about an avowed socialist (de Blasio admits his perverse political leanings) attempting to steal money from those who earn it, in order to redistribute it to people who don’t earn it–people who will keep voting de Blasio into office in response to his political bribery. de Blasio has also instructed the city to divest its pension funds from any company that remotely has anything to do with fossil fuels. Now that IS insane!…
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    NY Moves Forward with Fracked Gas Microgrid in Middle of Albany

    Last May, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans to construct a new “state-of-the-art, locally-sourced mini-power grid” that will connect to the statewide electric grid but will also be able to operate independently, to power the Empire State Plaza in Albany–a complex of buildings in downtown Albany housing much of New York State government (see NY Gov Cuomo Building New Fracked Gas Elec Plant to Power Albany!). The energy-efficient microgrid, which will be powered by fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania, will supply 90% of the power for the 98-acre downtown Albany complex, and is expected to save the Plaza more than $2.7 million in annual energy costs. The project will also remove more than 25,600 tons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere each year – the equivalent of taking more than 4,900 cars off the road – supporting New York’s goal to reduce emissions by 40 percent by 2030 from 1990 levels. In an emergency, it can power a shelter for Albany residents. As we pointed out at that time, Cuomo building a fracked-gas-powered microgrid is just about the ultimate in hypocrisy. He blocks fracking in NY, and he even blocks the pipelines needed to flow gas from PA into NY. But hypocrisy doesn’t bother Lord Cuomo. The project is on track to select a contractor by the end of March, and begin construction by the end of this year. The plan is to have the new natgas-fired microgrid up and running by the end of 2019…
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    New England Can “Thank” NY Gov. Cuomo for Sky High NatGas Prices

    As we pointed out earlier this week, New England now has the dubious distinction of paying the highest prices for natural gas–in the world (see New England’s Lack of Pipelines = Most Expensive Gas in the WORLD). The recent cold snap, which continues, has made natgas in New England about as valuable as gold. As we pointed out in our post, New Englander’s have nobody to blame but themselves and their uber-liberal, lefty, know-nothing leaders. Except maybe there is someone else who shares at least some of the blame–New York’s corrupt Democrat governor, Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo not only banned fracking (which screws all New Yorkers), he’s also blocked important pipeline projects through NY that would connect Marcellus gas supplies to New England (screwing New Englanders). So New Englanders can blame themselves AND blame Gov. Cuomo. Forbes writer David Blackmon does a masterful job in laying the blame where it belongs–at the feet of Prince Andrew…
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    NY Resident (& Lawyer) Sues DEC in Federal Court re Frack Ban

    In 2015 MDN told you about an Allegany County, NY attorney who had filed a lawsuit against the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) over their infamous frack ban. It was the first such lawsuit to be filed against the DEC since the frack ban was officially declared (see It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY). The lawsuit was filed in state Supreme Court in Allegany County. Don’t be fooled by the Supreme Court label. In screwed-up NY, Supreme Court is one level up from county court. The judge tossed the case saying the attorney/landowner didn’t have standing to file the lawsuit in the first place because he never had a permit to drill on his property. The Appellate Division upheld the decision against the attorney/landowner earlier this year. You see, in NY, everything is rigged–even our judicial system, where the judges want to protect their cushy jobs (appointed by our corrupt governor, Andrew Cuomo). The attorney/landowner from Allegany is back. This time he filed the same lawsuit in federal court–bypassing Cuomo-appointed judges. We have a copy of the 95-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York…
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    FERC Approves Millennium Pipe’s Eastern System Upgrade in NY

    The Millennium Pipeline stretches ~244 miles from Independence in Steuben County, NY to Buena Vista in Rockland County, NY. The Millennium, which is supplied by local production and storage fields and interconnecting upstream pipelines, serves customers along its route in New York’s Southern Tier region and helps meet the energy needs of northeast markets. In August 2016, the Millennium filed an application for what it calls its Eastern System Upgrade (see Millennium Pipe Asks FERC to Approve Eastern System Upgrade in NY). The ESU would add 7.8 miles of extra looped pipeline in Orange County, upgrade a compressor station in Delaware County, build a new compressor in Sullivan County and make some minor tweaks to metering stations in Rockland County. In late March the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a favorable environmental assessment for the project (see FERC Favorable EA for Millennium Pipeline Eastern System Upgrade). In what can only be described as completely out of character, the corrupt New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) also approved the project, in early September (see NY DEC Grants Permit for Millennium Pipe Eastern System Upgrade). Yesterday FERC gave Millennium permission to begin construction on essentially all of the project, with one tiny exception…
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    Con Edison Looks for “Non-Pipes” Solution for More NatGas to NYC

    Only in New York State do you find this kind of lunacy. Yesterday Consolidated Edison (Con Ed), one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, announced a request for proposals (RFP) looking for an alternative to building a new pipeline to get more natural gas into New York City–where the gas is desperately needed. Yes, pipelines are the safest mode of transportation in existence. Yet Con Ed wants something less-safe. Why? They don’t say, but no doubt to avoid dealing with the increasingly violent enviro left that opposes anything to do with fossil fuels–particularly pipelines. In Con Ed’s RFP they throw out some helpful hints at what enterprising businesses might consider proposing: “energy efficiency” (i.e. turn the thermostat down); “beneficial electrification of space or water heating” (i.e. use electricity instead of natural gas for water heaters and heating your apartment); “demand response programs” (i.e. use less by shifting the time when you use the gas); “provision of biogas” (use biogas–cow farts–instead of filthy fracked gas). Dead last on the list: “distributed natural gas storage, CNG, or LNG”–if you *must* propose using natural gas, figure out how to get it into the city without a new pipeline. Use less-safe tanker trucks, or figure out how to store gas from existing pipelines. Most of Con Ed’s proposed solutions aren’t about getting more gas into NYC, they’re about using less gas overall. Yeah, only in New York…
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    Cuomo Shafts NY State Yet Again; Bans Oil Barge Storage on Hudson

    Freedom in New York State is all but gone–snuffed out by a corrupt dictator by the name of Andrew Cuomo. Warning to other states: Be careful who you elect in high office. Cuomo is not content to simply destroy the drilling industry in NY–he wants to destroy anything to do with fossil fuels. Crude oil from the Bakken in North Dakota has, for some time, arrived in New York’s capitol city of Albany via rail cars where the oil is loaded on barges at the Port of Albany for a quick trip down the Hudson River. Cuomo went after those rail shipments, trying to slow them down or stop them altogether (see NY’s “Progress” to Control Bakken Crude Trains Passing Through). Somehow those oil trains continue to roll into the Empire State, over the objections of Cuomo & company. The Port of New York/New Jersey, the American Waterways Operators, and the Hudson River Pilots’ Association floated a plan earlier this year to allow up to 43 barges filed with crude oil to temporarily anchor along a 70-mile stretch of the Hudson River, south of Albany, between Kingston and Yonkers NYC. The barges could add capacity and transport more oil down the river to NJ refineries than is currently possible. Yet enviro Nazis rose up and pressured the state legislature into passing a bill to (essentially) prohibit the oil barge plan. Cuomo gleefully signed the bill in October, cutting NY out of yet more commerce it could have had. All because of an irrational hatred of fossil fuels…
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    Plan to Frack Shale Well in New York State Using LPG Still Alive

    Whatever happened to the idea of fracking a shale well in Tioga County, NY using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, or propane)? We sometimes get asked that question. In July 2015 a group of landowners flying under the name of The Snyder Farm Group (five families make up the group) contracted with Tioga Energy Partners (based in Texas) to drill a fracked Utica Shale well, and follow it up with drilling a fracked Marcellus Shale well, using LPG and sand (see NY Landowners File to Frack Horizontal Well w/Waterless Tech and NY Heroes: More Details on NY Propane Fracking Proposal). The wells would not use water for fracking–and therefore, according to the landowners, avoid New York’s ban on high volume fracking imposed by NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo. NY’s corrupt Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) does not disagree with the Tioga landowners. It certainly *may* be possible to use LPG fracking and avoid the prohibition on water-based fracking. Yet the DEC continues its standard operating procedure of delay by declaring they don’t have enough information (we’ve seen this movie before). The last time we reported anything about the Tioga project was May 2016, when the DEC began its latest round of death-by-delay tactics (see NY DEC Calls Propane Fracking “Unique Technology”; Wants More Info). So where does the Tioga project stand now? Same. The DEC says they still don’t have all the answers they want about LPG fracking, leaving the project in limbo. But that’s better than declaring it dead–maybe. The good news is that after 2 1/2 years, the Tioga project is still alive because the farming families involved are still pushing for it have not given up. Neither should we…
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    NY State Retirement Fund Invests More Money in Fracking Co.

    We found this story illustrative of the rank hypocrisy so prevalent in our beloved home state of New York. Even the most cursory follower of shale energy knows that our corrupt governor, Andrew Cuomo, decided to ban shale fracking in the Empire State in 2015 (see It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY). Since that time Cuomo has acted like the tin-pot, despot dictator he is, by moving to block pipelines coming into the state that carry fracked natural gas (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline and Cuomo’s Corrupt NY DEC Blocks NFG Northern Access Pipeline Permit). Cuomo recently lost one such battle, attempting to block a 7.8 mile pipeline from being built to a gas-fired electric plant in Orange County (see Millennium Begins Building 7.8 Mile Pipeline in Orange County, NY). Instead of using evil, filthy, vile “fossil fuels” like natural gas, Cuomo prefers to shower billions to his friends who promise they will bring solar and wind to the state. Cuomo has implemented a policy that demands 50% of New York’s electric supplies come from solar and wind by 2030–a delusional fantasy. The New York State Common Retirement Fund is the state’s ginormous pension fund for state workers (including public school teachers)–with some $140 billion of investments. Anti-drilling New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is the sole trustee in control of the fund, overseeing its investments. The fund invests in plenty of oil and gas companies–i.e. frackers–which we were once again reminded of when spotting a news clip that the Fund has just increased its holdings in PDC Energy–a shale fracker…
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