H20 Man and his Anti-Fracking Friends Deserve Support and Thanks

[Octafish]

The great DUer H20 Man has stood up to power -- and put his own health on the line -- in working to stop the "Fracking" of New York State. It seems like their Herculean efforts may be paying off.



According to the NYT, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's administration is restarting the regulatory process of hydrofracking from the beginning.

Shift by Cuomo on Gas Drilling Prompts Both Anger and Praise

Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

ALBANY — A few months after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was poised to approve hydraulic fracturing in several struggling New York counties, his administration is reversing course and starting the regulatory process over, garnering praise from environmental groups and stirring anger among industry executives and upstate landowners.

Ten days ago, after nearly four years of review by state regulators, the governor bowed to entreaties from environmentalists to conduct another study, this one an examination of potential impacts on public health. Neither the governor nor other state officials have given any indication of how long the study might take.

Then on Friday, state environmental officials said they would restart the regulatory rule-making process, requiring them to repeat a number of formal steps, including holding a public hearing, and almost certainly pushing a decision into next year.

The move also means that after already receiving nearly 80,000 public comments, the state Department of Environmental Conservation will be soliciting more input from New Yorkers about hydrofracking, or fracking, as the drilling process for natural gas is known.

CONTINUED...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/nyregion/with-new-delays-a-growing-sense-that-gov-andrew-cuomo-will-not-approve-gas-drilling.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0&wpisrc=nl_wonk

Let's give thanks to a great human being, H20 Man, and his colleagues who have done so much to raise awareness of fracking and done so much to oppose it.