ALBANY – On the fifth anniversary of the state moratorium on fracking gas, State Senator Jennifer Metzger (D, Rosendale) announced her legislation to make the ban permanent by codifying it into law.
She was joined in her announcement by several environmentalists including Sullivan County resident, actor Mark Ruffalo, and singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant.
While there is a ban on fracking within the state, there is nothing that prevents fracked gas from being imported from out-of-state such as that which powers the CPV generating plant in Wawayanda or Cricket Valley under construction in Dover.
On a news conference call on Tuesday, State Senator Liz Krueger (D, Manhattan) said fracking should be banned across state lines. “Natural gas’ path to the surface doesn’t understand whether the line on the map says Pennsylvania or New York or New Jersey. We need to make sure we are banning this practice throughout our entire region and, I believe, country,” she said.
None of the environmentalists or lawmakers, Tuesday, would commit to supporting legislation to block fracked gas imported into New York.
