Cuomo Rakes In Donations From Energy Sector

Andrew Cuomo’s energy and power agenda, titled Power NY, is more than 23,000 words long, including footnotes, stretched out over 150 pages. But two words that never appear in the Democratic gubernatorial candidate’s document, together or separately, are “hydraulic” and “fracturing.”
        
And while the document does discuss natural gas drilling in other terms, the omission of hydraulic fracturing by name – hydrofracking for short – is notable. It is also understandable. The drilling technique and its potential use in the Marcellus shale buried under large parts of the state are an emotionally fraught issue, having pitted neighbor against neighbor upstate and drawn the ire of environmentalists, even as supporters say gas could help solve complex statewide power problems. The state’s next governor will preside over administrative decisions that could decide whether, how and where drilling is allowed to take place, and for Cuomo, the debate is particularly sensitive: Power companies with a stake in natural gas are among his campaign’s largest contributors.

Proponents say drilling into the shale, which often involves pumping water and chemicals into cracks in the rock deep underground, could yield enough natural gas to change New York’s power landscape profoundly, providing plentiful fuel for power plants across the state and the country while replacing coal, a dirtier resource, in rehabilitated older plants. Critics maintain it threatens to poison groundwater wherever it occurs, including in the vast watershed that supplies drinking water to New York City.        

Where The Candidates Stand
Carl Paladino, the Republican candidate for governor – who did not respond to requests for comment – sides with proponents. His support for drilling in the shale treats the safety of hydrofracking as a foregone conclusion, and, his web site says, his support “means drilling the Marcellus Shale safely – and immediately – outside the New York City water table.

“We'll tap the easternmost part of the Marcellus Shale when drilling is green-lighted there, too,” the site adds. “And we'll get that done without undue delays.”

Just as concisely, candidates to Cuomo’s left – City Council member Charles Barron of the Freedom Party and the Green Party’s Howie Hawkins – favor an outright ban. Cuomo’s position is both more nuanced and less clear.

While he didn't respond to requests for comment either, in his campaign literature and statements Cuomo indicates that he is seeking to maintain a tenuous balance – to encourage expanded natural gas use, as he does in his power agenda, while ensuring that the gas is obtained in a way that does no harm to the environment.

“Because so much of our supply of energy is based on natural gas fuel, ensuring a supply of low-cost natural gas is important to New York,” his position paper maintains, adding that drilling could help the upstate economy and reduce the need for more environmentally destructive resources, like coal. Still, it adds, “New York State must ensure that, if and when the Shale’s natural gas is obtained, it does not come at the expense of human health or have adverse environmental impacts.”
        
The Hydrofracking Debate
Drilling without human or environmental cost is not necessarily possible, said Craig Michaels, watershed program director at Riverkeeper, an environmental group that advocates strong restrictions on drilling.
        
“That, I think, is the big question on everyone’s mind,” Michaels said in an interview. “Is there a way to do this safely, and can we ensure that it’s safe in every instance? And I think the jury’s still out on that.”
        
Whether drilling is or is not allowed will depend, in part, on an ongoing review by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation – but there are other potential hurdles to drilling, too, including proposed anti-hydrofracking legislation. One bill, already approved by the state Senate, would impose a moratorium on the practice until May. Richard Capozza, a Syracuse lawyer, has supported drilling, calling the DEC’s reluctance to approve hydrofracking so far a “morass,” colored by “public fears and misperceptions” about the safety of drilling.