Today, Common Cause/NY, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Food & Water Watch, Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, Center for Environmental Health, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Citizens for Water, NYH2O, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, Riverkeeper, Inc.,and Frack Action called on Governor Cuomo to scrap the Revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (RDSGEIS) for high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) due to the extent of involvement by three firms who are members of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York (IOGA NY) in the preparation of the SGEIS...

Quinnipiac Poll Confirms that New Yorkers Don't Want Fracking

The Quinnipiac University poll released today shows statewide opposition to fracking is growing. The new poll finds opponents outnumbering supporters of fracking in the survey by 46-39 percent — a new low for fracking proponents and the first time a “clear margin” has opposed it in Quinnipiac polling. Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute stated that voters are "turning negative on the basic idea..."  of fracking. According to Ramsay Adams, Mountainkeeper Executive Director, "The more that New Yorkers learn about fracking, the more they oppose it.  The oil and gas industry is waging a massive, glitzy, smooth talking campaign to convince New Yorkers that they can get fracked and like it.  New Yorkers aren't buying it." CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ENTIRE POLL

Mark Ruffalos' Real Plan For a Renewable Energy Future For New York

Activist, actor and Catskill Mountainkeeper board member Mark Ruffalo has spearheaded the effort to create a real plan for a renewable energy future for New York State.  He, along with Academy Award nominated filmmaker, Josh Fox, put together a team of researchers headed by Stanford University Professor Mark Z. Jacobson (and 2012 Mountainkeeper Barnfest keynote speaker) to tackle the challenge.  The result is the groundbreaking report released today, entitled "Examining the Feasibility of Converting New York State's All-Purpose Energy Infrastructure to One Using Wind, Water and Sunlight". 

Yesterday, I joined Senators Diane Savino and David Carlucci at a press conference with other environmental leaders at the Capitol Building in Albany to announce that the Senate's five-member Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) had unveiled legislation that would stop the clock on the State's long consideration of the controversial natural gas drilling technique known as fracking....  

If the stakes weren’t so high, the way that New York State is conducting its review of fracking's environmental and health impacts would be laughable. Again and again the Governor and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have put the cart before the horse and turned what should be a straightforward, science-based process into a convoluted debacle. It’s hard to explain how the DEC could issue the regulations that would govern fracking BEFORE they finished their Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, the in depth document they have been working on for the last several years.... 

During this holiday season I hope that you include Catskill Mountainkeeper in your year-end giving for 2012.   A significant portion of our operating budget comes from end of year donations and it is a great time to support our work because your contribution is tax-deductible.  It is really easy to donate before the end of tax season by using our secure online donation system, by using Paypal or by sending us a check... 

Let the Science make the Decision on Fracking

Governor Cuomo has promised that the decision on whether fracking would go forward in New York State would be guided by science, but recent actions by his admininistration are contrary to that goal.  The New York State Department of Conservation (DEC) has now put in motion a process for the health review of fracking that does not give the medical experts the Governor appointed the time to do a thorough review and is not open to public comment. The DEC has not given the medical experts that were appointed time to do a thorough review of the health impacts of fracking and has limited public comment. For a quick overview of how we got to this point click here: Peter Mantius: Doctors' fracking concerns being ignored Corning Leader ‎- December 2, 2012 It appears as if the medical experts hired to review the health impact of fracking in New York State are being given just days each to review what the Department of Health (DOH) has already written. One of the experts, Lynn Goldman, made statements to the press that she had a December 3rd, 2012 deadline to complete her work even though she had signed a contract only 10 days prior and at that time had not yet seen the health review. We have learned that the state signed contracts with each medical expert that limits their work to 25 hours each. The actions of the medical experts will not be a comprehensive independent health impact assessment that New Yorkers have been asking for.  In fact based on the amount of time they’re being given, they will hardly have time to read the data on the health impacts of fracking that has already been written. Catskill Mountainkeeper and our partners have been advocating for a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) since 2008.  Our requests for a comprehensive and rigorous independent HIA that distinguishes itself from other kinds of public health investigations by using quantitative, qualitative and participatory techniques have been ignored.

What’s Behind The Headlines?

This week Governor Cuomo announced that the state is “restarting” the regulatory process that would create the rules under which high-volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) could proceed.  When asked why the state would be doing more work and undertaking a health impact review, he answered that “it will be a stronger review to withstand a legal challenge." Contrary to indications last week that he was likely to back away from fracking, the Governor strongly stated this week, “there is no step back.” It’s unfortunate that the Governor has framed the need for a health review as a legal defense issue rather than as a critical element necessary to protect the public health.  None-the-less, now is the time for Governor Cuomo to demonstrate he has a high level of concern for the public’s health by elevating his current plan for an internal health review to hiring an independent entity to lead a comprehensive and rigorous Health Impact Assessment (HIA). 

On Thursday September 20, Joseph Martens, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that the DEC will do a review of the potential public health effects of fracking. He said, “only after this evaluation is completed will a decision be made about whether to permit high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York…

But First We Need to Stop It

 Mark Z. Jacobson giving the Keynote at Barnfest 2012[/caption] Mark Z. Jacobson, director of Stanford’s Atmosphere/Energy Program mesmerized hundreds of Mountainkeeper supporters at last Saturday’s Barnfest with a doable plan to forgo fossil fuels and convert the globe to sustainable renewable energy by 2030. Based on the findings of the research he did with Mark A. Delucchi, UC-Davis researcher, he said, “there are no technological or economic barriers to converting the entire world to clean, renewable energy sources....