Fracking’s always a hot topic. Today’s editorial about New York’s review process on hydraulic fracturing to mine for natural gas drew comments from LoHud readers. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s been taken to task by energy-producing types who want the state to finally finish its review of the process, and permit it in New York. We say:
… a proper independent review must run its course, even if it means prolonging the wait for oil- and gas-drilling interests. Being “No. 1” in energy, with all its pluses and minus, certainly won’t amount to much if we are too dirty and unhealthy to enjoy it.
Our readers say:
What is really needed is an independent health study, not a panel of 3 persons reviewing what the DEC, the pro-fracking agency working on fracking regulations, has already decided. Haven’t we learned anything in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, that messing with Mother Nature has dire consequences down the road? Why do we keep assuming that human kind is smarter than Mother Nature? History tells a different story.They’ve been doing studies for 60 years and they keep ending the same way. The EPA blocked fracking in several parts of the country and ended up in court. The judge in each case called for a scientific/engineering firm to investigate the allegations that water was being poisoned or several other charges. In EACH case, the independent firm found zero substance to the allegations. Here’s an irrefutable fact: ALL industry has issues but no industry has had fewer than fracking in it’s 64 year history.