Hyrdofracking is a major threat to not only the safety of our drinking water, but is also a MAJOR issue when it comes to global warming. According to pretty much every major scientist out there, we are FUCKED if we allow hydrofracking. And yes that is a major scientific analysis...we are FUCKED if we let it go forward.

So it is about time we all stand up against hyrofracking because our drinking water and our ability to adapt to global warming as a nation will be screwed up. It is time to take a stand! From Democratic District Leader Jo Anne Simon:

Here's the statement I recently submitted to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation:

There can be no question that high-volume hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) poses enormous risks to the approximately 9 million people of New York City and tri-state area who rely on clean water from the Catskills and reservoirs upstate. Citizens of upstate New York and surrounding areas are at risk of property value depreciation due to contaminated land and air. There have also been reports of increased illness, including asthma, headaches, nausea, and allergies. These afflictions however are not just affecting humans--it has been reported that pets and livestock have been getting sick as well. In addition, the jobs fracking creates do not necessarily go to local citizens; two-thirds of those working at various fracking sites are from out-of-state.

There has not been enough research done on hydraulic fracturing to deem it "safe." As we learned recently with the unusual earthquakes in Ohio that were directly tied to fracking, we do not yet fully understand the geology of New York State and how it might be affected by fracking, nor how fracking might affect the many aging water tunnels underground. Because the natural gas industry has secured an exemption from the Clean Water Act (also known as the Halliburton Loophole), it need not, and has not, disclosed the chemicals or chemical mixtures it uses in the fracking process. Therefore, we do not know what chemicals are present in the fluids that would be injected deep into the ground, and we do not know how far they will travel within geological formations, or if they will return to surface aquifers. New York must absolutely ban any toxic and carcinogenic chemicals that could be potentially injected into the ground and reach our water supplies.

While natural gas may burn cleaner than other fossil fuels, air pollution from diesel engines, compressor stations, and flaring negate this, with the unfortunate addition of noise and light pollution. We will see the destruction of the environment with the construction of roads to fracking sites, as well as on-site storage pools that can potentially leak extremely hazardous chemicals into the ground, for which presently there is no known treatment or safe method of disposal. These disposal pools are the result of pumping millions of gallons of freshwater and chemicals into the ground to break apart the shale rock, which in the end returns to the surface contaminated and is then considered "hazardous waste." The proposed regulations do not adequately address the many unknowns in a process for which any unknown cannot be countenanced because the dangers are simply too great.

The clean water from upstate that millions of New Yorkers rely on is a special, unique resource that should not be put at risk for any reason. The DEC must protect everyone's water, regardless of where it is. The natural gas trapped in the Marcellus Shale is not going anywhere––the DEC needs to do more in-depth research before making any decisions that put our water - and our lives - at risk.