Updated: Hydrofracking moratorium passes Assembly
UPDATED –
The Assembly passed the same “No Fracking ” bill late last night that the State Senate had passed earlier in the year — much to the chagrine of some western NY lawmakers, according to City Hall. Apparently it was more important to lawmakers to get same bill language passed than amend some “overly broad” language in the Senate bill. This is considered quite a coup victory for the environmental community, as well as other groups who feel the DEC’s SGEIS isn’t up-to-snuff.
One of the fiercest critics of fracking has been the Citizens Campaign for the Environment. I asked Dereth Glance for a comment:
“Congratulations to the underdogs that fought back the gas industry to preserve what we hold so dear: our homes, clean water, fresh air, and communities. Together we do make a difference,” said Dereth Glance, Executive Program Director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
Glance says she watched the entire debate and was impressed by several legislators’ comments on the floor, including Assemblywoman Lifton’s.
The bill now goes to Governor Paterson’s desk for hist signature. I will ask his on my show today if he will be signing the legislation.
3 Comments
Coingratulations –
common sense is to wait and see how Pennsylvania corrects the over 1,056 violations that have occurred in the initial 993 days in Pa hydrofracking. This was front page news in the Buffalo News on September 6, 2010 and those violations included 50 improper well casing constructions.- any one of these could result in aquifer contamination.
In the near future, water will be more important than oil or gas. We need to get this right. Wait for the EPA report before starting and change the culture of carelessness of the oil and gas industry which is the real challenge.
DEC has only 16 gas well inspectors — that obviously has to be beefed up to start with. DEC is not ready to be serious about protection of water which is a more critical resource than gas .
The Assembly did the right thing. Now it’s time for Governor Paterson to sign the bill — before the gas and oil lobbyists lubricate the bill’s downfall with their megabucks and miniscruples.
[...] But business groups, including the oil and gas lobby, said the moratorium, which was recently approved by the Assembly after the Senate backed it in August, went too [...]