May 27, 2010  - CDOG, a grassroots organization based in Chenango, Delaware, and Otsego Counties, urges both the New York State Assembly and Senate to enact bill numbers A10490 and S7592, which were submitted by Assemblyman Englebright and Senator Addabbo.  These bills would establish “a moratorium upon the conducting of hydraulic fracturing in the state” until 120 days after the completion of a report by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on “the effects of hydraulic fracturing on water quality and public health” (A10490, Sec 1(a)).

We also urge our elected representatives to sign on as sponsors of these legislative initiatives.

While CDOG advocates for a ban on unconventional gas drilling in New York State, we support this moratorium to give other people the time they need to study the situation and come to understand that we cannot simultaneously protect our health, economy, and environment and allow extreme and desperate drilling techniques to extract fossil fuels tightly trapped in low permeable rocks.

CDOG agrees with the findings of the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force (HETF) when they called upon NYS DEC Commissioner Grannis to “ban hydrofracking and other unconventional drilling methods” in New York State “for the future of all our relations” (Press Release dated 11-05-2009). Onondaga Faithkeeper Oren Lyons closed the HETF press release by saying “There is no way to undo the harm hydrofracking will cause.”

Please contact your state representatives and urge them to support these pieces of legislation.   Englebright bill, A10490