Governor Cuomo of New York announced today that the state would ban hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" within the state. Fracking, of course, is a process that has been used for four decades around the country to open up oil and gas wells in order to allow more to be extracted from the well. In the last ten years, fracking has been joined with horizontal drilling to release gas and oil from shale deposits that contain enormous reserves. It has been a monumental success story. For example, the state of Pennsylvania went from having very little production of natural gas to now producing more natural gas than all states but Texas just on the strength of the fracking process. Estimates are that about a quarter of a million jobs in Pennsylvania were created as a result of the natural gas boom.
So why did Cuomo decide to ban fracking? According to the governor, it was because of "health hazards" presented by fracking and a lack of evidence of economic benefits from the process. In truth, no one could say with a straight face that there are no economic benefits. Even the low estimate used by Cuomo's people says that fracking adds over $100 billion a year to the national economy. Supposedly, though, there are environmental and health costs that offset the economic benefits. We hear non-stop about aquifers that will be polluted by fracking. Of course, after 40 years of use, there are no such polluted aquifers. If fracking were really a problem, there ought to be big areas of Texas, Oklahoma or Pennsylvania where the water is undrinkable, but there aren't any. There are also no health problems associated with fracking that can be demonstrated. In truth, the only real problem with fracking is that the environmental crazies don't like it because it drops the price of natural gas and oil.
Cuomo has capitulated to the environmentalist extremists in New York City, and he has sacrificed the people in upstate New York who would have benefitted from gas drilling across the Southern Tier.
Every so often, someone mentions Cuomo as a possible Democrat candidate for president. With this action today, Cuomo has demonstrated that he can never lead this nation.
So why did Cuomo decide to ban fracking? According to the governor, it was because of "health hazards" presented by fracking and a lack of evidence of economic benefits from the process. In truth, no one could say with a straight face that there are no economic benefits. Even the low estimate used by Cuomo's people says that fracking adds over $100 billion a year to the national economy. Supposedly, though, there are environmental and health costs that offset the economic benefits. We hear non-stop about aquifers that will be polluted by fracking. Of course, after 40 years of use, there are no such polluted aquifers. If fracking were really a problem, there ought to be big areas of Texas, Oklahoma or Pennsylvania where the water is undrinkable, but there aren't any. There are also no health problems associated with fracking that can be demonstrated. In truth, the only real problem with fracking is that the environmental crazies don't like it because it drops the price of natural gas and oil.
Cuomo has capitulated to the environmentalist extremists in New York City, and he has sacrificed the people in upstate New York who would have benefitted from gas drilling across the Southern Tier.
Every so often, someone mentions Cuomo as a possible Democrat candidate for president. With this action today, Cuomo has demonstrated that he can never lead this nation.
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