New York

Energy Companies | New York | Norse Energy | Statewide NY

Bankrupt Norse Energy to Sell NY Leases – Who Will Want Them?
July 30, 2013July 30, 2013

The “little energy company that could” has become the “little energy company sunk by Andrew Cuomo.” A pair of press releases from Norse Energy Corp. yesterday tell the sad story. Norse, with 130,000 leased acres in New York State (most of it in the Marcellus & Utica Shale) had been hanging on by a thread, waiting for shale drilling to begin. The company filed for bankruptcy last December, clinging to the promise that Cuomo and the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation were about to release new fracking rules (see Norse Energy Hurt by NY Fracking Delay Files for Bankruptcy). If shale drilling had been allowed even starting this spring, there’s a chance Norse could have pulled out of bankruptcy and continued. Alas, the new fracking rules have still not been released, and now Norse will be forced to sell off the only assets it has left: its leases…
Read More “Bankrupt Norse Energy to Sell NY Leases – Who Will Want Them?”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Speakers at JLCNY 5-Year Moratorium Event Take Aim at Gov Cuomo
July 24, 2013July 24, 2013

Yesterday marked the very sad and tragic five-year anniversary of no shale drilling in New York State. The moratorium, first instituted by then-Gov. David Paterson in 2008, has increasingly frustrated the 77,000 members of the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY). The JLCNY and New York elected representatives made their collective displeasure with the ongoing moratorium known at a rally yesterday in Binghamton, NY. Addressing a packed room of some 150 drilling supporters, the JLCNY’s attorney Scott Kurkoski gave a stirring speech, followed by a number of elected state and local officials. Each of them took direct aim at Gov. Andrew Cuomo, telling him “it’s been long enough” and “it’s time to move forward.” Watch a video of the speeches below (22 minutes long), courtesy WIVT/WBGH News Channel 34.

The JLCNY also released the following statement yesterday:
Read More “Speakers at JLCNY 5-Year Moratorium Event Take Aim at Gov Cuomo”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Statewide NY

The One Fracking Poll Gov Cuomo *Should* Be Worried About
July 24, 2013July 24, 2013

MDN subscriber and friend Ken Kamlet, an attorney with one of Binghamton’s premier law firms–Hinman, Howard & Kattell (HHK), recently wrote an article for the HHK legal blog that takes a close look at public polling in New York State on the issue of shale drilling and fracking. It’s a marvelous article, both in depth and breadth, providing superb insights into what New Yorkers think about the drilling issue (we recommend you read the whole article).

In Ken’s conclusion, he hits on the one public poll that should matter the most to NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And no, it’s not how many New Yorkers are for or against fracking and shale drilling. The poll that Cuomo should pay attention to is the one that shows a convincing majority of New Yorkers on both sides of the drilling issue believe Cuomo is “dragging his feet” on the drilling issue. Rather than being perceived as careful and deliberative on the drilling issue, he is instead perceived as weak and ineffective, lacking leadership–not good qualities for someone who seeks higher office…
Read More “The One Fracking Poll Gov Cuomo *Should* Be Worried About”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Ulster County

Marbletown, NY Frack Ban Passes – 22 Page Manifesto
July 24, 2013July 24, 2013

Sometimes town leaders in New York State who vote to ban hydraulic fracturing are dullards–they don’t bother to research and understand the legal issues. It makes no difference to them that they’re trampling on the Constitutional property rights of their landowning constituents–the very people they’re sworn to protect (but don’t).

Other times, town leaders in New York who vote to ban drilling–like those in Marbletown, NY (Ulster County, Middle Hudson Valley area)–are truly, stupendously ~~stupid~~ misguided. What takes most towns a paragraph or two to do, “Don’t drill and frack anywhere in the town,” has taken the brainiacs in Marbletown 22 pages of new regulations to accomplish in their recently enacted fracking ban. And the town supervisor brags about it!…
Read More “Marbletown, NY Frack Ban Passes – 22 Page Manifesto”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Somber Anniversary: Today NY Fracking Moratorium Turns 5 Yrs-Old
July 23, 2013July 23, 2013

Time to fly the flags at half staff. Why? It seems that freedom and liberty in New York State have died. Tyranny has slowly crept in and has now taken up residence in the Empire State. For five long years, landowners in New York have been denied their Constitutional property rights to allow shale drilling on and under their land, and frankly, there’s no end in sight to this travesty of justice. Oh, we New Yorkers have not given up! As Winston Churchill once famously said, NEVER!

But honestly, it’s hard to keep your chin up month after month and year after year, especially when Democrats control so much of the state and just don’t give a darn about individual freedom or the Constitution. It’s especially disheartening when there’s rampant ignorance on the part of many in the general public who only read headlines and don’t bother to try and understand the sometimes complicated drilling issue. As we pointed out yesterday, the drilling issue in New York has devolved into celebrity emotion vs. science (see NY Fracking Debate is Celebrity Emotion vs Scientific Facts).

To mark today’s somber anniversary, the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York will hold a “Five-Year Anniversary Event” at the Holiday Inn Arena in downtown Binghamton…
Read More “Somber Anniversary: Today NY Fracking Moratorium Turns 5 Yrs-Old”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Seneca County

Anti-Drillers Provide Fraudulent Ban Petition to Covert, NY Board
July 23, 2013July 23, 2013

An MDN reader has alerted us to some “funny business” going on in the Town of Covert, NY (near Ithaca) on the part of anti-drillers who circulated a petition in support of a town ban on fracking. It appears that at least some of the “signatures” on the petition were fraudulently added by the group circulating the petition, the so-called Concerned Citizens of Covert (CCC). The list of names of those supposedly supporting a ban were presented as a typewritten list to town board members, but (as far as we know), the original signed petitions have not yet been produced by CCC.

One Covert landowner says she did not sign the petition but her name, along with the names of other family members who also did not sign, appears on the typewritten version of the petition. She said it looks like the CCC simply went through voter registration roles and added a bunch of names, claiming they had all signed. If that’s true, the CCC petition should immediately be investigated by the local and state attorneys general (but don’t hold your breath)…
Read More “Anti-Drillers Provide Fraudulent Ban Petition to Covert, NY Board”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Fracking Debate is Celebrity Emotion vs Scientific Facts
July 22, 2013July 22, 2013

The following full-throated, pro-drilling op-ed is noteworthy for two reasons. First, it was written by a former Bloomberg reporter, Kelly Riddell (who knew there was even a single pro-drilling person on staff at Bloomberg!). Second, it appeared in the usually anti-drilling Albany Times Union. One pro-drilling article per 50 or so anti-drilling articles is what passes for fair and balanced in the TU.

Hopefully Gov. Andy will tear himself away from paddling canoes and handing out flood relief money to read it. Riddell’s column is well worth your time to read, especially if you live in the Empire State…
Read More “NY Fracking Debate is Celebrity Emotion vs Scientific Facts”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

JLCNY to Mark 5-Year Moratorium Anniversary at Binghamton Event
July 18, 2013July 18, 2013

The 77,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) will hold at event next Tuesday, July 23 at the Holiday Inn Arena in Binghamton to mark a somber milestone: the five-year anniversary of the shale drilling moratorium in New York State. This is a shout out to drilling supporters in the Southern Tier area of New York to invite you to attend…
Read More “JLCNY to Mark 5-Year Moratorium Anniversary at Binghamton Event”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Cuomo and Fracking and Comments (Oh My!)
July 15, 2013July 15, 2013

Kind of a strange editorial in the Rochester, NY Democrat and Chronicle (D&C) newspaper last Friday. The gist of the editorial is that Gov. Cuomo has not distinguished himself by fence-sitting on the fracking issue (we agree with that point). However, the editorial writer(s) have angst that because Cuomo and his lieutenants at the Dept. of Environmental Conservation and State Dept. of Health have taken so long with their respective reviews, that the 200,000 comments from the public filed by a deadline earlier this year will go un-responded to and that the public’s input will be “dismissed” and not considered in the final decision.

Here’s what the D&C editorial says:
Read More “Cuomo and Fracking and Comments (Oh My!)”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

JLCNY: New Fundraiser “Scrap the Moratorium” & Lawsuit Update
July 10, 2013July 9, 2013

If you think pro-drillers living in New York State are depressed and have given up the fight to see drilling come to the state–you would be dead wrong. Nowhere is fight more alive than with the 77,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY). Two recent emails from the JLCNY illustrate it’s full speed ahead in the fight for property rights and freedom in the Empire State…
Read More “JLCNY: New Fundraiser “Scrap the Moratorium” & Lawsuit Update”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

AP Presents Anti-Fracking Zealots as Harmless Old Ladies
July 5, 2013July 5, 2013

Attempting to make heroes out of rabid, frothing-at-the-mouth anti-drillers from MDN’s neck of the woods (the Southern Tier of NY and Susquehanna County, PA), an AP article appearing on the USA Today website (and in numerous newspapers) begins this way:
Read More “AP Presents Anti-Fracking Zealots as Harmless Old Ladies”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Cayuga County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation

Niles, NY Turns Off NatGas Spigot for Everyone in Hasty Vote
July 5, 2013July 5, 2013

Oops. Looks like the town board of Niles (Cayuga County), NY has just voted to turn off the natural gas spigot for everyone in the town. Guess they’ll now have to heat with oil or wood or coal–or maybe stick up a windmill or a solar panel. On June 13, the town board of Niles voted to institute “a permanent ban on the drilling, storage, transfer and/or treatment of natural gas within town lines.” Guess what folks–storing and transferring natural gas includes moving gas through existing underground pipelines the local gas utility operates that connect to homes and businesses in the town. It also prohibits propane trucks from delivering gas to homes, and it prohibits people from throwing the backyard barbecue grill tank into the car to get it filled up.

No storage, no transfer. We’d sure hate to live in Niles…
Read More “Niles, NY Turns Off NatGas Spigot for Everyone in Hasty Vote”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Cuomo: NatGas is Good. Fracking? Who Knows (He Sure Doesn’t)
July 3, 2013July 3, 2013

Mealy mouthed: 1. hesitant to state facts or opinions simply and directly as from e.g. timidity or hypocrisy; 2. NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Bet you didn’t know that Cuomo’s name is now in the dictionary under the definition for “mealy mouthed.” The latest example of Lord Andrew’s mealy mouthedness on the topic of shale drilling and fracking in New York comes in response to a reporter’s question about Cuomo’s fellow Democrat, Pres. B.H. Obama calling natural gas “an effective transition fuel.” Lord Andy’s mealy mouthed response:
Read More “Cuomo: NatGas is Good. Fracking? Who Knows (He Sure Doesn’t)”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | Tompkins County

NY Eco Group Protest to Stop Plant Converting from Coal to NatGas
July 1, 2013July 1, 2013

It would be hysterically funny if it weren’t so pathetically sad. So-called environmentalists don’t want an electrical generating power plant in Tompkins County, near Ithaca, NY, to switch from burning coal to natural gas because they’re afraid it will mean more fracking. Talk about cuckoo birds. Members of a group called the Finger Lakes Action Network protested at the plant on Saturday…
Read More “NY Eco Group Protest to Stop Plant Converting from Coal to NatGas”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

Energy in Depth Websites Consolidate with National Website
June 26, 2013June 26, 2013

For those wondering (like we did) what the heck happened to the Energy in Depth – Marcellus and Energy in Depth – Ohio websites, they’ve been merged into the national Energy in Depth website. Each of those original websites and their excellent articles are still around–they’re just part of the main site, found at //energyindepth.org.

EID is a vitally important voice in the drilling debate. It is the voice of the drilling industry–backed by the Independent Petroleum Association of America. Those who hate fossil fuels are quick to point out that EID is the voice of “big oil.” Well, uh, yeah, it is. It’s also the voice of little oil and gas companies. But let’s not quibble–all oil is big oil for the eco-nuts. The anti-fossil fuel gang would love nothing better than to put a muzzle on EID. Fortunately for the vast majority of Americans who love fossil fuels and the prosperity we derive from them as a nation (fossil fuels provide virtually all of our energy), EID is not going anywhere. They’re still around setting the record straight. They’ve just done a bit of housekeeping and consolidation of their many websites into one, according to this press release:
Read More “Energy in Depth Websites Consolidate with National Website”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County (NY) | New York | Regulation

Flags at Half Staff: Rochester, NY Extends Fracking Moratorium
June 21, 2013June 21, 2013

On Tuesday, Rochester, NY City Council voted 9-0 to extend ordinance No. 2012-269, a moratorium on shale gas drilling, until June 30, 2014 (a copy of the resolution is embedded below). A similar moratorium in Binghamton, NY was found illegal and tossed out by a judge last year (see NY Judge Throws Out Binghamton Fracking Moratorium). Just a few weeks ago, a town in Delaware County was sued for passing the same type of moratorium (see Exclusive: Sidney, NY Sued by Landowners over Fracking Moratorium). Perhaps City Council members and voters in Rochester simply like paying high taxes to defend lawsuits?
Read More “Flags at Half Staff: Rochester, NY Extends Fracking Moratorium”