Marcellus Shale Press Coverage

Ithaca -- Leaders in Tompkins County were commenting more on what wasn't in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State address Wednesday than what was in it.

Tompkins County Legislator Martha Robertson, D-Dryden, said she was disappointed Cuomo's speech lacked any mention of state mandate and Medicaid relief for local governments.

"He gets so much credit for the tax cap, and he promised that would come with mandate relief," Robertson said, noting that if a push for mandate relief doesn't come from the governor's office, it's not likely to start anywhere else.

ALBANY -- It turns out that after months of self-congratulatory backslapping over finally steering New York away from fiscal crisis, the sky is falling again.

And for many lobbyists and politicians in Albany, that's just perfect.

As the DEC gets set to hold public fracking hearings in Binghamton Thursday, it's task is not easy:

"Regulate what is by all accounts an intrusive industry but an industry that could have some real economic benefits," said Coughlin & Gerhart attorney Robert McKertich.

At the center of the hearings will be the DEC's latest Economic Impact Study, or S-GEIS. Those in favor of fracking say it's time to finalize the S-GEIS and move on.