July 18, 2012 Action Alert: Fracking – There is a Viable Alternative
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....
Read moreJune 26, 2012 - Action Alert: Is Fracking Coming To New York?
Last week Governor Cuomo announced on WGDJ radio in Albany that “we don’t have a hard date, but it will be done shortly”, signaling that the state will adopt a policy on fracking soon. This statement comes days after the Governor’s office leaked a plan to the New York Times (in which Mountainkeeper was quoted) that would allow hydrofracking permits in Broome, Tioga, Chenango, Chemung and Steuben counties near the Pennsylvania border and would give local communities a say in whether or not gas wells would be drilled (Listen to Ramsay Adams interviewed on WBAI NYC Public Radio). Our response to the Governor’s plan was swift and strong. Mountainkeeper immediately convened a meeting of the top environmental groups in the state and together we organized a press conference and rally in Albany on June 20th....
Read moreNew Study Predicts Frack Fluids Can Migrate to Aquifers Within Years
Major news outlets such as Bloomburg News, Business Weej and Propublica are reporting on a game changing peer reviewed study commissioned by Catskill Mountainkeeper that ppredicts frack fluids can migrate into aquifers, directly contradicting the claim by the gas industry that these toxic chemicals will stay underground forever...
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Part of our worldwide effort to halt climate change and why we need to ban fracking and adopt a renewable energy policy
When you are fighting against fracking you are part of a larger global effort to wean the world off fossil fuels and move us toward using renewable energy sources so that we avert catastrophic global warming. You are fighting the same fight as those who are trying to stop mountaintop removal in West VA, the Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport tar-sands oil (whose extraction and refining produces up to 30 percent more greenhouse gases than conventional oil) and dangerous nuclear power...
Fracking with Propane
The Gas Companies’ Latest Tactic to Bring Fracking to New York State
Our lawyers have advised us that New York law does not permit fracking with LPG because given its significant risk of adverse environmental impacts any application to use it would first require its own supplemental-generic or site-specific environmental impact statement. It is unfathomable that the state would consider allowing a process that forces explosive liquid propane gas underground under high pressure without first doing the proper environmental review.
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Help Keep the HIA in the Budget
Don’t Let the Governor Get Away with Taking the Fracking Health Impact Assessment Study Out of the State Budget
Last night New York State released a final draft of the section of the budget that should have included a Health Impact Assessment Study on fracking, but despite the study’s inclusion in the budget submitted by the Assembly, it was absent from the final version. This flagrant omission prompts us to ask the question, “Does the Governor really care about our health?” These actions are particularly egregious in light of the medical evidence that is coming out warning about the dangers of fracking...
Read moreCelebrate and Support our Area Agriculture by Attending These Exciting Upcoming Events!
Catskill Mountainkeeper is pleased to 
support the following agricultural programs and events that are being presented by our partner organizations. They include workshops for farmers and landowners on evaluating land for agricultural use and increasing land access for farmers, informational sessions for producers on how to better market your products, training for garden educators, and a workshop series on how to get the most out of your organic garden. Please come out to join us in supporting these fun, informative, and important efforts. Land Access Workshop Series for Farmers and Landowners Wednesday, March 21 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
eCenter, 5-1/2 Main Street, Delhi Thursday, March 22 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Duggan Community Center, 3460 State Route 55, White Lake Landowners and farmers are invited to the Catskills FarmLink Introduction to Evaluating Land for Agricultural Use & the Basics of Land Leasing workshops being held in Delaware and Sullivan Counties on March 21 and 22. Catskills FarmLink is an online land access resource, connecting farmers looking for land with property owners interested in maintaining a viable working landscape. The workshop addresses two commonly asked questions: 1.) How do I evaluate my land for agricultural use, and 2.) How do I develop a land lease? A presentation by Dale Dewing, field crop educator and Watershed extension team leader with Cornell Cooperative Extension, will focus on how to evaluate land for agricultural use. In a panel discussion of landowners and farmers on lease agreements and food and farm law expert, Jason Foscolo, will provide guidance and examples of personal experience with land leases. Additional workshop details are available on the Catskills FarmLink website. The workshops are free to attendees and RSVP is requested, as space is limited. To RSVP for the workshop or for a free legal consultation with Jason Foscolo LLC, email [email protected] or call Sonia Janiszewski at 914-720-1020.
MARCH 8, 2012 - WE NEED YOU TO CALL NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER SHELDON SILVER TODAY. HERE IS WHY.
A Major Victory - Court Upholds Towns Right to Ban Fracking
As reported in the New York Times a New York State Judge has ruled that the upstate town of Dryden in Tompkins County can ban natural gas drilling within it's boundaries. Passed last year to clarify that Dryden's zoning prohibits the exploration for and production or storage of natural gas and petroleum, the home rule effort landed the Town of Dryden and the Town of Dryden Planning Board in a law suit brought by Denver-based Anschutz Exploration Corporation, which owns leases on more than 22,000 acres in the town and has invested $5.1 million in drilling operations there. Anschutz argued that the zoning amendments amounted to an attempt by the Town of Dryden to regulate the gas industry, but the Court found that New York state’s oil and gas law does not restrict municipalities from changing their own zoning laws to halt natural gas activities. While Anschutz may pursue appeals and other legal maneuvers to try to reassert its claims, the ruling is a decisive victory for opponents of fracking and advocates of home rule approaches to prevent fracking and related activities by concerned communities. 
“The town of Dryden has proven in court that citizens -- and not multinational energy companies -- control the future of their towns,” said Wes Gillingham of Catskill Mountainkeeper. Under the leadership of Helen and David Slottje, Earthjustice and Dryden Resources Awareness Coalition, environmental groups including Catskill Mountainkeeper came to the defense of Dryden and another NY town, Middlefield, when their newly enacted bans on gas drilling activities were challenged at the end of last year. Catskill Mountainkeeper and others have also been pursuing legislative efforts to strengthen the rights of communities to exclude gas drilling through zoning amendments, aquifer protection laws and other home rule activities. This week’s ruling validates New York’s existing home rule law and makes a strong statement endorsing the community efforts already underway across most of New York to enact laws to protect people, animals, farmlands, and existing ways of life from unwanted industrial activities such as gas drilling. According to the New York Times: "Justice Phillip R. Rumsey of State Supreme Court said that state law does not preclude a municipality from using its power to regulate land use to ban oil and natural gas production. The ruling is the first in New York to affirm local powers in the controversy over drilling in the Marcellus Shale, a gas deposit under a large area of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio."
The Power of Activism
The exceptional work we have done together, what lies ahead and what you can do
Prior to pursuing their hydraulic fracturing agenda in New York State, the gas industry virtually walked into 32 states and set-up shop with minimal if any opposition. And the results as we know have been devastating for public health, the environment and for the social fabric of communities. But when the gas industry “Goliath” got to New York, they found a small but strong band of “Davids” who stood up and told them “NOT SO FAST”. Since then our numbers have grown exponentially and together we have waged an unprecedented 4-year campaign to expose the dangerous consequences of gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing. Most importantly we have won some major battles, slowed the process and raised the consciousness of a large part of the state’s citizenry. Significant among our joint achievements was getting then Governor Paterson in 2009 to withdraw the immensely flawed first draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS).
