To Frack or Not to Frack? [Poll]

Governor Andrew Cuomo hasn’t made his final ruling yet on hydro-fracking in the state. Have you?

A couple of recent male college grads came up from New York City Monday to get villagers on their opposition side of the issue, and, more importantly, get them to sign up as members of Environment New York.

The New York branch of the national organization Environment America is focusing their efforts now in fighting shale gas drilling in the anticipation of a much-delayed ruling on state fracking regulations.

“This is a big decision for the state,” Cuomo said at a November press conference when the deadline got pushed off again. “It has potential economic benefits if the state goes forward with fracking, but we want to make sure it’s safe and we want to make sure the environment is protected, people are protected and that’s why we’re doing a health assessment.”

The findings of the health assessment won't come in until early 2013, which means for environmental groups it’s game time.

From an AP report on Syracuse.com:

The Department of Environmental Conservation has been doing an environmental impact study and drafting new regulations for high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, since 2008. Shale drilling has been on hold since then amid health and environmental worries surrounding fracking, which stimulates a well’s production by injecting huge volumes of chemical-laced water to crack deep, gas-rich shale deposits.

Steve, of Environmental New York, who wouldn’t leave his last name, said he expected that the governor would be making his decision in a month or so. Leading up to this, he had gotten several people walking on Main Street to join about 15,000 members the organization boasts so far. Each day, the group is making stops at different venues around the state to talk to and educate residents about this contentious issue. 

“Becoming a member is the major way we can get some lobbying power,” Steve said. Meaning, they need donors.

Why Tarrytown? Steve, positioned near the step-up to Coffee Labs with his clipboard and pamphlets, said his director “loves this town and loves this coffee shop." 

He couldn’t have chosen better weather or a better spot, as of course Coffee Labs fuels many residents daily. How we get other fuels remains up for grabs.

Where do you stand on hydro-fracking? Take our poll below.