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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsH20 Man and his Anti-Fracking Friends Deserve Support and Thanks
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.
antigop
(12,778 posts)DLevine
(1,788 posts)horseshoecrab
(944 posts)This is great news! H2O Man has worked so hard at the fracking issue in NY. Thank you H2O Man!
And, thank you Octafish for posting this excellent news!
immoderate
(20,885 posts)--imm
valerief
(53,235 posts)Cleita
(75,480 posts)H2O Man
(73,528 posts)You have no idea how much this OP/thread mean to me.
I'm merely one of many, many people who are active in this struggle. Because I've had the opportunity to have decades of experience in the struggle for social justice -- including having the chance to learn from some of the most outstanding figures engaged in the Good Fight in those years -- this Old Man is now taking the time to try to teach some "youngsters" the lessons that I've learned along the way.
jsmirman
(4,507 posts)We are all in your debt and in the debt of people who fought alongside you on this.
And I feel a little better about Cuomo today than I did yesterday.
BumRushDaShow
(128,815 posts)cyberpj
(10,794 posts)Saw previews over the weekend of a movie to come that will (hopefully) do a lot to spread more factual information. Although after searching on the movie title I see FOX is already attacking it. I'm just hoping the well-liked Matt Damon's attachment to it will help get some new eyes on the topic.
Krasinski plays a local activist who leads the town into rebellion against the drillers, arguing that their plans would damage the local environment. To anyone who is familiar with the debates about fracking in, say, upstate New York, this will be a familiar story.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/01/14170780-hollywood-environmentalists-persian-gulf-oil-barons-have-common-foe-fracking
bigtree
(85,986 posts). . . for that alone, you certainly deserve our praise. Let's hope Andrew is sincere in his efforts; better yet, let's keep him honest with continued advocacy and (safe, healthy) activism.
bananas
(27,509 posts)And they can change things for the better.
CatWoman
(79,295 posts)Javaman
(62,517 posts)Blanks
(4,835 posts)...they have commercials about how great fracking is for the local economy.
I know a guy who lives where they are doing the fracking and he sings a different tune. They have earthquakes and the water table has disappeared for the people with wells. Not related... Really?
Fracking is the thing that's gonna finally poison us all.
Keep up the good fight.
Doremus
(7,261 posts)In fact hubby and I caught part of the propaganda movie that shows fracking in a hugely favorable light. Millions of dollars for landowners, instant riches for cash-strapped municipal governments, the whole bit.
Hopefully the owners thinking of signing up learn of the serious detriments before it's too late for them (and us).
Blanks
(4,835 posts)...why an industry that the public does not purchase directly from is advertising; particularly during the evening news.
GE and Shell advertise their environmental emphasis too. Shell makes a little more sense because at least people choose who they purchase their gasoline from, but when I see one of these GE ads; I wonder what it is that they are up to that they don't want on the news.
It doesn't appear to be common knowledge that GE manufactured the nuclear plant that were (and are) such a problem in Japan.
myrna minx
(22,772 posts)Raksha
(7,167 posts)I hope that new generation of young activists you are training appreciate the opportunity they have to learn with such a great teacher.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Seriously.
era veteran
(4,069 posts)Good going man.
Gregorian
(23,867 posts)porphyrian
(18,530 posts)Shameless plug for his free e-book on community organizing: http://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/226012/1/grassroots-handbook-for-effective-community-organizing?page=
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)madamesilverspurs
(15,800 posts)We could use H2O Man around here. In my county alone there are 19,000 wells. We're also in a drought, and farmers take a very distant back seat to frackers at the water auctions. Our county commission, city council and, most disappointing, our Democratic governor have chosen to not heed the mounting evidence. But we're not shutting up, we're not going away.
On facebook: FrackFiles
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KT2000
(20,572 posts)and good work H2O Man and others.
cyberpj
(10,794 posts)Saw previews over the weekend of a movie to come that will (hopefully) do a lot to spread more factual information. Although after searching on the movie title I see FOX is already attacking it. I'm just hoping the well-liked Matt Damon's attachment to it will help get some new eyes on the topic.
Krasinski plays a local activist who leads the town into rebellion against the drillers, arguing that their plans would damage the local environment. To anyone who is familiar with the debates about fracking in, say, upstate New York, this will be a familiar story.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/01/14170780-hollywood-environmentalists-persian-gulf-oil-barons-have-common-foe-fracking
firehorse
(755 posts)Cuomo was looking like a republican with his initial stance on fracking. I hope in the end the state bans it like Vermont.
mzmolly
(50,985 posts)Flaxbee
(13,661 posts)Beringia
(4,316 posts)This is wonderful. Thanks Waterman.
CrazyOrangeCat
(6,112 posts)raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)Earth_First
(14,910 posts)Yes, there are many who have done much, much more than I have including dear H20 man!
The majority of my work has been at the local moratorium level, the heavy hitters are the ones heading to Albany on a monthly basis...
Thanks again for the support!
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)druidity33
(6,446 posts)Earth_First
(14,910 posts)I've been to Dimmock, Bradford etc. and have seen the travesty that the oil and gas companies have created in neighboring Pennsylvania; it's atrocious!
Again, however. There are many who did much, much more on a much larger effort than I.
I am humbly just a spoke in this giant wheel of activism.
Thanks, H20 Man
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,515 posts)freefall
(662 posts)hootinholler
(26,449 posts)The USGS recently confirmed an EPA finding of frack induced well contamination in Mt.
Uncle Joe
(58,348 posts)Thanks for the thread, Octafish.
TheUnspeakable
(1,005 posts)and thank you both for still being here at DU
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)GulleyJimson
(107 posts)No place to store all that cheap gas.
H20 man? Please, do we need cartoon characters to fight the fight?
R.I.P. Barry Commoner
H2O Man
(73,528 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)I'd be kicked off this board.
malaise
(268,910 posts)annabanana
(52,791 posts)sevenseas
(114 posts)I thank you- The earth thanks you!
David Zephyr
(22,785 posts)!
Overseas
(12,121 posts)mojowork_n
(2,354 posts)lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)He rocks! H2O Man!
H2O Man
(73,528 posts).... except the person who called me a "cartoon character."
I've been working on typing up an important document today, for use in the struggle to protect the environment from the hazards of hydrofracking. It's something that people from a three-county region in upstate New York have wanted me to do. More, it's an important enough project that, in order to get it to the quality I want, it is as difficult a project as I've ever done.
But it will get done.
About a month ago, Governor Cuomo was preparing to give the "green light" for hydrofracking in the state's Southern Tier. As some of you are aware, I have a long-term working relationship with one of the members of Cuomo's "advisory committee" on fracking. So, from time to time, I hear things that aren't reported in the media.
The strong, organized grass roots response to the "outhern Tier sacrifice" plan helped to slow it down. So did the certainty of law cases being filed. We definitely would have won, in terms of getting an injunction, based upon the faulty science of the SGEIS. Cuomo knew this; because he is moving forward with his 2016 presidential run, he did not want to lose such a court case. It's not because he cares about the environment per say -- he is a cold, ambitious politician.
Keep in mind that the top level people in the county and state democratic committees have informed Cuomo that the Democratic Left (or, in their words, the "Far Left" provides the core of activists for much of the grass roots, door-to-door campaigning. Cuomo's stance on hydrofracking has impacted the level of their participation in numerous races across the state. Hence, the governor's recent shift in position.
None of us believe that Cuomo will do anything to help us, out of the goodness of his heart. Or that he will continue to do the right thing, should the opportunity to reap more energy corporation contributions come up. And so it is essential that we continue to work just as hard today, as we did yesterday, or last week, or last month.
(Also -- if you'll excuse my skipping about here -- the anti-hydrofracking movement recently strengthened ties with the Onondaga Nation .... last month, there was a great day of speeches, presentations, and live music at Onondaga. And that, as I've noted on DU several times in the past year, opens up other levels for environmentalists et al to engage in the Good Fight.)
Earlier today, while taking a break from writing, I came upon this OP/thread. What a nice thing for a tired Old Man to come across! And, this evening, while going to a couple small meetings held at associates' homes, my friends thought this was really encouraging, too. So thank you all, for your kind words.
Back to work!
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Superman and the Batman were also cartoon characters.
DU: always a fool or two to be suffered.
Thanks for all you do, for fighting the Good Fight.
defacto7
(13,485 posts)get um!
burrowowl
(17,638 posts)HCE SuiGeneris
(14,994 posts)xxqqqzme
(14,887 posts)Tons of respect for the hard work and dedication too.
jsr
(7,712 posts)allan01
(1,950 posts)thanks h20 man
on edit: i claim not to own this video. the people who distributed it own it
fracking gone askew.
bread_and_roses
(6,335 posts)goclark
(30,404 posts)YES!..
blm
(113,041 posts).
YankeyMCC
(8,401 posts)with deep gratitude
bows