"Good tidings of great joy"/Keep cranking up the heat/Thanks for supporting this campaign

Greetings:

I write to wish you the happiest of holidays. After four years of grueling hard work, I am thrilled to bring you "good tidings of great joy" regarding our shale fracking efforts. This one is truly a whopper.

Since November 27, 2012, more than 10,000 activists have besieged Governor Cuomo and members of the Shale Fracking Advisory Panel with super-focused coalition letters, personal emails and phone calls to:

a) put on-hold the secret Department of Health shale fracking "review" conducted without any public participation and

b) require a comprehensive "Public Health Impact Study" to resolve shale gas extraction concerns once and for all.

Throughout 2013, Governor Cuomo repeatedly declared that his Health Commissioner, Dr. Nirav R. Shah, was doing a good job and would soon complete his "review." Most importantly, the Governor pledged that he would make his final shale fracking decision by election day 2014. The Governor publicly reiterated this promise as recently as November 6th.

Guess Who Blinked?

Andrew Cuomo has now apparently blinked. As you will see from the clips below, the Governor just said that his election day decision deadline is no longer sacrosanct.

This raises the very real possibility that New York's shale fracking moratorium can be extended for at least another year by preventing completion of a DOH "review" that is widely considered fatally flawed.

http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2013-12-17/cuomo-says-fracking-decis...

http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2013-12-17/health-dept-transparency-...

http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2013-12-17/ny-gov-still-no-date-deci...

Dr. Shah's "Transparency" Proposal is Unacceptable to Say the Least

The Governor was with Dr. Shah as he pledged "transparency" when his "review" is done, but not while the "review" is underway.

With all respect, Dr. Shah cannot possibly be serious if he believes New Yorkers concerned about Marcellus Shale fracking health hazards will accept his promise of "transparency" after it is too late to do anything about his review's woeful inadequacies. His proposal is totally unacceptable to say the least.

Take Immediate, Urgent Action Today

The DOH "review" is clearly a linchpin issue for Governor Cuomo. We are on the verge of making this matter simply untenable for him.

Andrew Cuomo ran on a platform of providing open and transparent government that all New Yorkers would be proud of. Now he proposes to base his personal shale fracking decision on a secret DOH "review" that lacks any public participation whatsoever.

Shale fracking is clearly heating up the gubernatorial kitchen. We might be able to break this issue wide open.

Call and email Governor Cuomo to reiterate requests that he:

1) put on-hold Dr. Shah's shale fracking "review" because it lacks public participation.

2) undertake a comprehensive "Public Health Impact Study" openly and transparently with formal public participation to resolve shale fracking hazard concerns once and for all.

Emphasize that you are a registered voter (if true) who is extremely concerned about Marcellus Shale fracking hazards.

State that it is inconceivable that Governor Cuomo proposes to base New York's most important environmental decision on a secret DOH "review" that lacks any public participation regarding how the "review" should be undertaken.

Underscore that preventing shale fracking public health hazards is a top priority for you and that you will "remember in November" when it comes time to cast your ballot.

Email Governor Cuomo: http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact/GovernorContactForm.php

Call the Governor:

Albany: 518-474-8390

New York City: 212-681-4580

Binghamton: 607-721-8367

Tweet the Governor: @NYGovCuomo

Facebook him: https://www.facebook.com/GovernorAndrewCuomo?sk=wall

Send Governor Cuomo a letter which requests that the DOH "review" be put on-hold: http://apps.toxicstargeting.com/ms_email_template.php

Sign a coalition letter to Shale Fracking Panel Members to make sure that they cannot shill for the Governor by taking crumbs: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/letters/2013/10/17/letter-...

Conclusion

Our goal is to maintain New York's shale fracking moratorium at least until the proposed "Public Health Impact Study" resolves 17 critical concerns documented in our Withdraw the Revised Draft SGEIS coalition letter. This would require shale fracking strict liability, private right of legal action and financial surety as well as eliminating gas fracking regulatory exemptions.

This plan would achieve the goal of restarting the SGEIS proceeding to resolve its shortcomings. Regulation of natural gas and oil extraction would be revolutionized. The economics of shale fracking would be dramatically altered. The end result would be a meaningful model of regulatory action that could protect New Yorkers and provide a model for the rest of the nation.

Join more than 22,000 signatories to the Withdraw the Revised Draft Coalition letter: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/cuomo/coalition_letter/2011

As long as the DOH "review" is NOT COMPLETED, no Final SGEIS can be adopted and New York's nearly six-year-long shale fracking moratorium continues in full-force.

Thank You

I appreciate all the kindness that so many of you have shown me these last four years. We are still on our feet and have miraculously held off shale fracking in New York. We have demonstrated that a well-coached, highly coordinated citizen campaign can prevent the biggest corporate polluters on the planet from laying waste to our home state. That is not chopped liver.

Shale fracking has spread to more than half the nation, but not one shale gas production well has ever been fracked in New York. Steady as she goes.

In closing, I want to thank each and every activist who has participated in our campaign. You know who you are and have made a world of difference. We have come mighty far by working so well together. Things have turned out far better than I ever could have hoped. May our good fortune continue.

Merry, Merry. Happy, Happy. I am eager for 2014. I hope you are too.

Onward and upward. Circle November 4, 2014 on your calendar.

No let up. Take nothing for granted. Each day is a political eternity.

Count our blessings. Hum Babe.

Very best regards,

Walter

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