Is the NY Moratorium on Hydrofracking Enough?

There was a brief moment of jubilation last week after the New York State Senate overwhelmingly voted to pass the moratorium on issuing permits for hydrofracking until May 2011. It was the first victory in what has already been a 2-year fight to educate the public on the perils of hydrofracking, and to prevent this unregulated, risky, and deadly form of gas extraction from taking place in New York.

The party was short lived. Last Thursday, David Sager (candidate for the 42nd district senate seat in NY) held a press conference at the Monticello Government Center to say, essentially, that this very short moratorium is the absolute LEAST that the senate could have done to protect our water, our environment, our health, and our infrastructure. Hydrofracking is essentially industrial mining, he said, and it needs to be treated as such. This bill doesn't even begin to address the real issues surrounding hydrofracking in NY. Mr. Sager is calling for new legislation to protect Sullivan County, which is the epicenter of the proposed 85,000 wells. He wants legislation that would support a ban until such time as:
- the national Frack Act is passed
- the current EPA study is analyzed
- a true cumulative impact study is performed
- there are appropriate treatment plants for the toxic wastewater
- there is adequate manpower for the regulation of the 80,000+ wells
- windfall taxes are in place to support the infrastructure
- there is support for home rule
- attention is paid to "compulsory integration" (meaning, those of us whose water supplies would be affected even if we don't sign leases)
- attention is paid to farmers who can't currently earn enough money to support their work; signing leases for hydrofracking should not be their only alternative.

Mr. Sager then turned over the microphone to Wendy Robinson of S.A.C.R.E.D, who said that this bill, although it's a step in the right direction, is purely symbolic.

Following Ms. Robinson was Bruce Ferguson of Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, who is leading the way in lobbying efforts in Albany. So far, only 36 property owners in Sullivan County, out of 70,000 residents, have signed leases.

The last speaker of the day was Wes Gillingham of Catskillmountainkeeper.org, who applauded the state senate for passing the moratorium bill. He urged that hydrofracking should be the most important issue in elections this year.

Getting Involved is What Matters

It's so easy to be disillusioned; disheartened; disenfranchised when you look this oily beast in the eye; they've got more money than the rest of the world combined. But tonight, I heard a few people say some things that put steam back in my sails and made me feel like I'm a part of something incredibly important.

The event was a fundraiser for David Sager, who is running for NY State Senate against a longtime, popular senator who has recently changed his tune from "Drill Baby Drill" to "Maybe Drill Next Year". And at first intro, most people say "Oh, he doesn't have a chance" and they write him off, even if they wish he could actually win.

But the reality is that Mr. Sager has the power of believers on his side; people who are fighting tooth and nail with him to prevent New York from becoming a disaster area; to lessen the painful burden of property taxes; and to deal with issues that have been ignored on the state level for too too long.

I felt fortunate to be in this room of people who are fighting so incredibly hard to protect New York. People who have taught me everything I know about hydrofracking... people who know how to make waves, who are well-connected, and who's passion and love for this area is overflowing.

Mark Ruffalo, the actor, was in attendance tonight and in his short speech he said about disheartened people, "Obviously they're not writing enough letters to their senators". What a great get-off-your-behind call to action! And he's perfectly right. It's a simple, fast thing that anyone can do and it makes a tremendous difference!

When David Sager got up to talk he said that his campaign may not be well-financed like his opponent's; but he's on the side of "right", and he's got the "right" people behind him. Looking around the room at the array of people, I had to agree with him. Maybe, in this case, Right Makes Might.

I listened to a man who talked about puttiong his money into creating a farm powered by renewable energy, and about how excited he is for the future of his young son. There was lots of conversation about how to link up the fight against carbon to the renewable energy industry; how to expand the coalitions of the grassroots behind a unified voice.

And may people talked about Wind power - how it's so successful some places, and yet we're doing so little with it when we have such great wind resources.

So .... there is an army of people working tirelessly to save our habitat. Really extraordinary people; not drones. You don't have to feel alone or helpless in this fight.... just do whatever you can to make a difference, and think of all the other people out there who are doing the same.