Targeting Cuomo Supporters

NEW YORK -- Pressure on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from both sides of his state's hydraulic fracturing fight flared up this week, with local groups and Binghamton Mayor Matthew Ryan having dialed up the heat with a letter to 1,000 Cuomo campaign contributors urging a ban.

The effor to hurt the Democratic governor where it counts -- in the pocketbook -- comes amid increasing lobbying from business groups in New York looking to win permits for the controversial drilling practice. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is now targeting the state in the run-up to this fall's elections and has plans for a number of ad buys in support of development.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Multiple Broome County municipalities are calling for impact assessments before fracking hits their communities.

Wednesday, Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan and residents came together to address what they call questionable and possibly dangerous methods used during the fracking process.

Some anti-fracking environmental leaders are reaching out to Governor Andrew Cuomo's top campaign contributors to say unless drilling is safe everywhere, it is not safe anywhere.

Discussion of the possibility of sporadic drilling in the Southern Tier started on June 13, when the New York Times reported that the Cuomo Administration is pursuing a plan to allow drilling in communities that want it.

In an effort to take action before this possible proposal takes hold, local anti-fracking leaders have sent letters to Governor Cuomo's 1,000 biggest campaign contributors.

In an effort to get the ear of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, opponents of hydraulic fracturing in the Southern Tier have penned a letter to 1,000 of his closest friends.

Binghamton Mayor Matthew T. Ryan and others who have concerns about the natural gas extraction technique gathered in front of Binghamton City Hall on Wednesday to discuss a letter they sent to the 1,000 largest contributors to Cuomo’s campaign fund.

Another set of fracking opponents is trying to stop the controversial drilling technique by another strategy, reaching out to Governor Cuomo's supporters.

Walter Hang, who owns a consulting business that tracks toxic sites for property investors and other clients, said he believes Cuomo "listens a great deal to his biggest campaign contributors, many of whom are intensely involved in governmental affairs."

"If he hears from these contributors," Hang said, "it may be a more powerful message than when he hears from ordinary citizens."