It’s Been a Gas

Rob Astorino’s reaction sums it up best. The former GOP candidate for governor characterized New York’s decision to ban fracking this way:

“Governor Cuomo to the Southern Tier: Drop Dead!”

Bowing to green activists and the Hollywood crowd, Cuomo on Wednesday made New York the only one of 35 states with significant naturalgas deposits to ban fracking. Then he tried to wash his hands of it, saying he was deferring to his health and environmental commissioners.

Funny thing about that: Twice since 2009 the Department of Environmental Conservation has been prepared to allow fracking, with safeguards, in New York. What stopped them was political intervention — first, by Gov. David Paterson, and then by Gov. Cuomo — who each restarted the approval process from scratch.

In any case, the health and environmental concerns Cuomo cites fly in the face of findings from multiple other studies, including one by the Obama Department of Energy.

The governor’s fracking decision came the same day that siting locations for three new upstate casinos were announced. The irony is that while the economic case for fracking is strong, the one for gambling is weak.

Three decades ago, gambling seemed like a great idea for revitalizing the depressed Catskills region. Today, the gaming industry is in economic freefall.

Gov. Cuomo discussed what New York can do to grow jobs in struggling parts of this state. But his answer — double down on iffy casinos while banning a safe and proven new energy technology — will mean a most unMerry Christmas upstate.