At my reading in Bryant Park on Wed, the most impassioned questions were about hydro-fracking in NY State.  Gov. Cuomo recently announced that he intends to lift the state’s virtual moratorium on fracking:
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/nyregion/cuomo-will-seek-to-lift-drilling-ban.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=hydrofracking&st=cse
While he has generally been good on environmental issues, Cuomo is under pressure to provide jobs and energy; by allowing fracking in most parts of the state, other than state land and the city’s watershed, he is attempting to thread a very fine needle and have it both ways.  I am skeptical that this is possible: once fracking is allowed on a grand scale, it will be extremely difficult to curtail it, unless tough regulations are put in place first.
Fracking pollutes water and air, and uses millions of gallons of water; you can’t un-frack shale that has been blasted apart.  We still don’t really understand the full impact of this process.  The sensible thing to do is revoke the infamous “Halliburton loophole,” and require companies to disclose what is in their fracking fluid, regulate the industry tightly, and include the public in the debate.
Today, ProPublica (a leading investigator of the issue) notes that hydrofracking fans and foes see the issue going to court:
https://www.propublica.org/article/lawsuits-predicted-as-new-york-towns-ponder-whether-to-block-fracking
I will be tracking this debate, and would like to hear your thoughts.