New York and the triumph of the enviro-morons

The New York legislature has passed a bill banning the use of hydraulic fracturing on gas or oil wells drilled in the state until at least May of 2011, supposedly to allow more time to study the effects of that procedure on the environment. It is a triumph of the use of scare tactics by know-nothing environmentalist morons. Instead of watching as the shale gas that underlies much of Western New York is developed bringing wealth and jobs to upstate New York, the people of that state will instead watch as the anti-capitalist progressives from New York City and its suburbs "protect" the water supply from non-existant dangers.

Hydraulic fracturing is the completion method used for drilling in the Marcellus and other shale strata; this method has allowed the Marcellus to be transformed from a very minor gas play into a super major gas field with enough reserves to supply the entire country for a few years. Fortunately for the USA, most of the field is in Pennsylvania or West Virginia, states where the wacko environmentalist lobby does not have total control. Hydraulic fracturing is not a new method for completing wells, however. It has been used for decades at other locations around the country. During that time, fracking (as it is known) has been used with essentially no major problems. To be sure, there have been mistakes made, just as there are with essentially any other industrial process. The point, however, is that fracking has already been proven to be essentially safe and clean when it is properly employed.

For the New York lefties, however, any process that might produce energy (other than solar or wind) is suspect and clearly polluting. These folks know in their bones that big oil (or here big gas) is inherently evil and that it must be stopped. There is no rationality on display here. After all, the natural gas that would be produced is much cleaner and produces a much smaller carbon footprint than the oil or coal that the gas would replace. In other words, the gas would greatly cut pollution, the supposed goal of these folks. But that does not matter, they do not want to be bothered with the facts.

In Pennsylvania, the natural gas industry has created cn enormous number of new jobs in the last eighteen months. Small farmers and other landowners have received sizeable payments which have made their lives easier and which have further increased economic activity in the Keystone State. And all of this economic activity in Pennsylvania is accelerating. On the other hand, New York is getting none of these jobs and none of the accompanying economic growth. New York's anti-business atmosphere will prevent development of the gas in that state for a long time to come.

It is truly strange that the people of New York consciously choose to prevent job development and economic growth. that, however is the choice these folks have made. The enviro-morons have won in NY. Now all New Yorkers will have to live with the result.