Drill, Maybe, Drill!

Drill, Maybe, Drill.

1. Diagram of hydraulic fracturing

Albany, New York. Like the rest of our nation, New York State has been looking to a variety of industries to resuscitate our economy, and in recent years, the natural gas industry claims we have a solution in our midst, in the form of hydraulic fracturing. New York rests atop the Marsellus Shale, a massive reserve for natural gas. While Hydraulic fracturing would mean a more energy independent New York, there is a concern that fracking could negatively affect the water supply in the Empire State. Even two major New York watersheds exist within the Marsellus Shale. This past year, the New York State Assembly put hydrofracking in a moratorium state, meaning that for another year, hydrofracking will be banned. This is the third time the state government has issued this ban. While this means that hydrofracking’s usefulness will not be reevaluated until later in 2014, there still remains an active debate in the state on the part that hydrofracking could play in the lives of New Yorkers. Lobbyist groups from both sides have stated their cases in the Assembly and Senate, but there are also farmers and business groups that have voiced their support for or against hydraulic fracturing.

Hydraulic Fracturing, or hydrofracking, is a controversial form of energy extraction that is beginning to gain popularity throughout the nation. Using a high enough pressure, a collection of 600 chemicals, including mercury methanol, and hydrochloric acid, can be pushed through the Earth, cracking shale and releasing pockets of natural gas that can then be used as fuel. In all corners of the Earth, fracking has been implemented and while it has been advertised as a stimulant for struggling economies, there are those who are paying the price in the frequent mishaps of fracking wells. Everything from polluted drinking water to even earthquakes has been attributed to fracking, and reports and documentaries, including 2010’s “Gasland,” have reported on the darker side of natural gas drilling. One social media group, known as Frack Action, cited an article, which referenced a report by Michael Breitenstein from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, stated that “Breathing only a tiny amount of silica dust per day, enough, roughly, to cover Franklin Delano’s Roosevelt’s nose on a dime- can put a worker at risk for myriad health problems…”(Intelligencer.com) “Everything we have seen thus far is that it is already happening, said Travis Proulx, director of communications for Environmental Advocates of New York. “In Pennsylvania they passed a gag order law that doctors could not state their patients have been poisoned because of water contamination. Beyond the water contamination, there is the air pollution. Methane emissions at these plants are much worse than carbon, and are a thousand times greater than industry regulators had already said. There is no upside for these communities and it is a business that has a habit of getting its way.”

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2. Nirav Shah with Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Regardless of previous information that has been released, for the past one and a half years, the research as to whether or not fracking is safe has been undergone by Nirav Shah, Health Commissioner for the New York State Department of Health. All eyes have been on him and his secret research, and even organizations such as the Department of Environmental Conservation have waited to release their official stance on fracking until Shah comes up with the results. According to their own public statements, the DEC has even drafted their own regulations for fracking if the ban is lifted. This delay in the results have led groups on both sides to criticize Shah, anti frackers have seen the dangers of fracking and do not want to see something catastrophic happen in New York, and pro frackers, including Cuomo’s opponent for Governor, Republican Rob Astorino, who even said that Shah is only there to do the governor's bidding. Allegedly, because of this pressure from pro fracking organizations and politicians, Shah has decided to resign his position, while the work on fracking carries on.

 

3. Travis Proulx, Environmental Advocates of New York.

Groups in New York have been working to keep the moratorium in place, like Environmental Advocates of New York, an organization dedicated to changing environmental policy in realm of state politics and policy, and has established a network of advocacy with groups such as New Yorkers Against Fracking, who can then provide people willing to protest outside of government buildings, while they try to dissuade politicians from fracking within Albany’s state buildings. Proulx said that this network has allowed protestors to appear in droves at every event Governor Cuomo attends. But for Proulx, that has not stopped the interests of oil and gas from seeping into the pockets of Albany politicians. “We have legislators who are personally invested in fracking. Republican Senator Tom Libous, controls what bills come to the floor and decides what is voted on in the Senate. He will not let a moratorium vote if he knows it is going to pass because he is in business ties with oil and gas companies.” Currently, Cuomo will be making the executive decision whether or not to lift the ban, and for Proulx, that might be best concerning who is in the Senate. “The shady ties are rampant,” he said. “If there was a vote, the moratorium would pass in the Senate as well as the Assembly, but if someone is choosing what to vote for, they are not caring about democracy.”

4. Farmers in the Southern tier of New York, debate the usefulness of fracking.

Pro-fracking groups have been known for throwing a lot of money in the faces of politicians to see their goals achieved. Since 2007, such groups, representing companies like Chesapeake Appalachia and ExxonMobil, have "spent $64.7 million in campaign contributions and lobbying, compared to just $7.1 million spent by anti-fracking interest groups" (Campbell, polhudson.com). These groups have also been working to sway the public opinion of New Yorkers. One group that oil and gas companies have rallied behind has been farmers. In December, the New York Farm Bureau worked with its 25,000 members to shoot down a proposal by fellow farmers to oppose fracking. Jeffery Williams, director of Public Policy for the Bureau, believes that there is money to be had that can boost agriculture if farmers sell portions of their land to oil and gas. “Farmers’ relationship with oil and gas has gone back one hundred years since they have been drilling,” Williams said. “And we have heard of farmers making some good money off of natural gas drilling and reinvest that money back in the farm.” Williams is not ignorant to the news that has come out of fracking, but he believes that the DEC is putting good regulations in place so that history would not repeat itself in the Empire State. “New York can learn from the past experiences of other states in making better regulations on fracking if it is allowed,” Williams said.

5. Anti frackers protesting in Albany.

Proulx and Zachariah Ralph, a director of outreach for the Citizens Campaign of New York, a grassroots organization that works with local communities to deal with environmental issues, were skeptical of this claim. “The idea that the future of New York agriculture is dependent on this boom and bust economy (of fracking) is absurd,” Proulx said. “I get that they are struggling, but it is not because there is a lack of fracking, it is because the industry that stuck in a 19th century mindset.” Ralph also told me that as a means of battling the influence of oil and gas companies on farmers, Citizen’s Campaign has lobbied for an increase in state farm subsidies so less resort to giving up their mineral rights to land, successfully getting $19.1 million in the hands of New York farmers.  But after dealing with politicians and farms, where does that leave the rest of New York? Last fall a poll from the Siena Research Institute had found that more men than women had opposed fracking. Based on class discussion in my Civic Journalism class, it was argued that women tend to be more sympathetic to environmental issues. But according to Ralph, it might also be because fracking jobs more often go to men, so it would be men who would support such job creation. “I have friends that work on the oil rigs and it seems like it appeals more to rough and tumble masculinity,” Ralph said.

6. Map of natural gas wells in Weld County, Colorado

For me and my family, fracking and its advocates is a close to home issue, not necessarily in New York, but elsewhere. After my grandmother died in 2011, we inherited over 300 acres of land in Weld County, Colorado, of which we have the mineral rights to. But my Aunt, Pamela Walpole, has refused to give up those rights to oil and gas companies, who have pestered her with letters and phone calls, promising our family a fortune if we give in and let them frack. Walpole, a New Yorker and a devout Catholic, believes that we are “stewards of the Earth,” and practices like fracking would poison the planet she believes God has given us. “If anything were to damage the environment, I would not be for it,” Walpole said. “Sometimes you don’t know all the consequences. It looks good and it turns out to be bad but I would not do anything that would harm the generations to come by contaminating their water and destroying their land.” On top of that, Walpole, while not considering herself an expert on the subject, thinks that the focus on fossil fuels for energy is setting back our civilization from real progress, and sticking us in cycle where we do not learn from our mistakes. “Why are we still at this point in our modern civilization resorting to oil and natural gas?” Walpole said. “It bothers me that we are not looking for more environmentally sound ways to serve our energy needs.”

7. Hydrofracking well in Ohio.

New York rests at a crossroads. Either we forget this dangerous hydrofracking business, or we plunge deeper into it. The evidence is all around us, that this is not only a short term solution to a long term problem, but it has created long term consequences in the process. And while it is understandable that the state government wants to take a scientific and research based approach, it is apparent the money of oil and gas is on everyone’s mind, and the temptations of riches beneath the Earth is clogging up the flow of our state government’s ability to be rational. It is still speculated as to when Cuomo will actually make a decision, but parties on both sides believe he will wait until after his reelection campaign (Coin, Syracuse.com). An executive decision leaves us all at the mercy of one man. Those for fracking, like Williams think it will be lifted as soon as he is sworn in for a second term, but the opposition thinks that Cuomo has much more sense than that. Ralph believes that Cuomo would have a lot to answer to if he stood by fracking and then decided to run for president as speculated. “Cuomo has a strong resolve,” Ralph said “And a strong historical footprint is more important than natural gas.”

 

Works Cited

Ralph, Zachariah. Phone interview. 18 Mar. 2014.

Proulx, Travis . Phone interview. 2 Apr. 2014.

Walpole, Pamela. Phone interview. 20 Apr. 2014.

Williams, Jeffery. Phone interview. 21 Apr. 2014.

Campbell, Jon. "Report: Pro-fracking interests outspending anti-fracking groups - Politics on the Hudson." Politics on the Hudson RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2014/01/13/report-pro-fracking-interests-outspending-anti-fracking-groups/>.

Coin, Glenn. "Hydrofracking decision won't be 'rush to judgment,' says New York DEC commissioner." http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/02/hydrofracking_new_york_dec_health_study_martens.html. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. <http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/02/hydrofracking_new_york_dec_health_study_martens.html>.

"Disclaimer." High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Proposed Regulations. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/77353.html>.

Hicks, Ian . "Gas Workers Risk Silica Exposure." - News, Sports, Jobs. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/598589/Gas-Workers-at-Risk-Of-Silica-Ex---.html>.

Lucas, Dave. "New York: Shale Fail." WAMC. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://wamc.org/post/new-york-shale-fail>.

Nearing, Brian . "Cuomo aims at 2014 decision on gas fracking." Times Union. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Cuomo-aims-at-2014-decision-on-gas-fracking-5114675.php>.

Reisman, Nick . "Shah’s Fracking Review Expected To Outlive His Tenure." NY State of Politics. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nystateofpolitics.com/2014/04/shahs-fracking-review-expected-to-outlive-his-tenure/>.

Weaver, Teri . "NY farmers reject anti-hydrofracking position at Farm Bureau meeting." World News. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://article.wn.com/view/2013/12/04/NY_farmers_reject_antihydrofracking_position_at_Farm_Bureau_/>.