Please support Toxics Targeting's hard-hitting campaign to keep all forms of shale fracking 100% out of New York: http://toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/donate
Please call Governor Cuomo during business hours at 518 474 8390 to request that he immediately prohibit the use of "gelled propane," Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and all other so-called "environmentally friendly" non-water shale gas fracking methods in New York pending an environmental impact assessment conducted pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR).
See Heart-Breaking Aerial Pics and Maps of Gas/Oil Fracking in CO, ND, CA and PA. This is the fracking devastation that our campaign helped New York avoid: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/Oil_or_Gas_Production_Wells_CO_CA_ND_PA.pdf
Greetings,
It has now been almost three weeks since a proposal to frack Marcellus and Utica shale in Tioga County using gelled propane, otherwise known as Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), received TV, radio and front-page news coverage throughout the Southern Tier, Finger Lakes and Capital District as well as from coast to coast.
The New York Post just ran an opinion piece which strongly supports the plan. See: http://toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/news/2015-07-26/will-andrew-cuomo-kill-another-way-to-drill-for-gas-in-new-york
If Governor Cuomo permits gelled propane/LPG fracking in Tioga County, New York's much ballyhooed shale fracking "ban" could be over almost before it begins. We must make sure that does not happen. That is why I write today.
Beat the Bushes for More Coalition Letter Signatories
Our self-explanatory coalition letter requests that the Governor immediately prohibit the use of LPG and all other "environmentally friendly" shale fracking methods pending an environmental impact assessment conducted pursuant to SEQR.
It already has more than 800 signatories identified with more than 100 elected officials, groups, organizations, institutions and concerned citizens from all over our state.
Please beat the bushes for more signatories: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/letters/2015/7/16/coalition-letter-cuomo-prohibit-green-alternative-shale-fracking-methods
More Great Press Coverage. Big Greens Finally Take Public Stand on LPG Fracking Loophole
I am very pleased to let you know that we received important additional press coverage today.
Scott Waldman's piece at Capital New York underscores that we should be extremely grateful for the efforts of intrepid grassroots Fractivists who helped push Big Green groups into taking a stand against the LPG Fracking loophole. Bravo. Those groups had earlier been reluctant to address this issue publicly.
See: Propane fracking proposal could sidestep state ban
Their letter fails to echo our clear, forceful request that the LPG fracking loophole be closed. It arguably thanks the Cuomo administration for adopting an inadequate fracking prohibition. Whatever. Anything is better than those groups remaining silent.
See: http://toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/2015%20GasFrac%20letter.pdf
Our coalition letter received additional TV coverage today that sends a perfectly clear message to Governor Cuomo about our concerns. Thanks to Jim Ehmke at Binghamton Channel 34. What a pro.
See: Locals oppose fracking with propane
Our earlier news coverage is presented at the end of this alert.
Closing the LPG Fracking Loophole and Ending Confusion About New York's So-Called Fracking Ban Are Crucial Goals
Closing the LPG fracking loophole and ending the enormous confusion surrounding New York's so-called shale fracking "ban" are both crucial to keeping shale fracking 100% out of our state in the years to come.
Not to cast aspersions, but when New York's shale fracking "prohibition" was announced last December, groups rushed to claim credit for "banning" fracking, held huge "ban" celebrations and thanked the Governor profusely before they even knew the details of the "prohibition." They rejected suggestions that counting proverbial chickens before they hatch is a Cardinal sin in politics.
When the Final SGEIS was released on May 3rd, one group declared: "A ban, by definition, is an absolute prohibition on a given activity. Make no mistake: a ban on high-volume fracking is what we have achieved here in New York and we will accept no less."
They obviously did not know the details of the so-called "ban" until the Final SGEIS Findings Statement was issued on June 29th.
The group also noted, "And unlike a moratorium, our fracking ban doesn’t have an expiration date."
Gelled propane/LPG fracking applications were submitted to the Department of Environmental Conservation a week after the Final SGEIS Findings Statement was issued. The pro-frackers obviously knew about the LPG fracking loophole and were quick to try to exploit it.
Propane fracking was originally proposed in Tioga County in early 2012. When DEC defined high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the Final SGEIS as "300,000 gallons or more of water," that decision was deliberate.
Ever since New York's shale fracking prohibition was announced last December, enviro groups asserted that Governor Cuomo would never rescind his landmark decision. They declared that New Yorkers had nothing to worry about so long as his administration was in office.
Now those groups have finally acknowledged the indisputable reality that New York's critical definition of high-volume hydraulic fracturing does not include gelled propane/LPG fracking proposed in Tioga County. That is a critical strategic development in the battle that lies ahead.
New York Remains 100% Free of Shale Gas Production Wells At Least For Now
While we face many looming challenges, this is a very good time to give thanks that our collective efforts, however imperfect, have successfully prevented even one shale gas production well from ever being fracked in New York. After seven years of political battle, that is still almost impossible to believe. Congrats to one and all.
See Heartbreaking Fracking Impacts in CO, ND, CA and PA
In contrast, I recently investigated some the devastating impacts of oil and gas fracking in other states. It is simply breathtaking how rapidly shale fracking has spread to more than half the states and from coast to coast. According to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency more than 150,000 gas/oil production wells have already been fracked nationwide.
Your heart will break when you see what fracking has done to CO, ND, CA and PA. This is the terrible fracking fate that our campaign helped New York avoid.
See: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/Oil_or_Gas_Production_Wells_CO_CA_ND_PA.pdf
Thank you for all your inestimable help.
Onward and upward. No rest for the weary. Keep slugging.
Very best regards,
Walter
Thank you for supporting Toxics Targeting's on-going campaign to keep all forms of shale fracking 100% out of New York. I apologize for my unrelenting begging, groveling and pleading: http://toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/donate
News Coverage
Walter Hang Interview on Binghamton Now - 7/23/2015
Anti-Fracking Activists Call For Ban on Alternative Methods of Fracking
Group calls on Cuomo to close fracking loophole
Activists Call on Gov. Cuomo to Ban 'Green Alternative' Fracking
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