hydrofracking

New York's top court has ruled that local officials can approve zoning laws to ban hydraulic fracturing within their borders.

As New York awaits a decision from the state’s highest court on whether communities have the right to use local zoning laws to ban the use of land for oil and gas activities, several local governments in many states are regulating hydraulic fracturing.  Experts from affected states recently briefed reporters on the growing trend of community control over fracking.

Hours before President Obama spoke at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on Thursday, area residents lined up along Main Street to send their own message.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking public comment on ways to disclose information about the chemicals used in the oil and gas drilling process known as fracking.

The EPA says in a Friday release that it is also seeking input on incentives and programs that could help develop safer fracking chemicals.

Earth Day was celebrated at the New York State Capitol with a tribute to the late Pete Seeger, and a display of live owls.

Documents obtained by a group opposed to hydrofracking in New York show that the Cuomo Administration is conducting a thorough and comprehensive health study on the controversial natural gas drilling process. The Finger Lakes-based organization is wondering, why then, the review has been conducted almost entirely in secret.

Former New York Congresswoman Nan Hayworth, a Republican who represented the Hudson Valley last term, is running to take back the 18th district seat from Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney. Speaking on WAMC’s Congressional Corner, Hayworth says she believes it is time for New York to end its de facto moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. 

The future of hydraulic fracturing has been in limbo since the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation began a review of the practice in 2008. Now, six public hearings are being held across New York to receive public comment on the draft State Energy Plan... one of them in Albany today.  Environmental groups are also at the Capitol today calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to put renewable energy ahead of fossil fuels in his effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s health commissioner was questioned by lawmakers at a budget hearing about his ongoing review of the health effects of hydrofracking.  But Dr. Nirav Shah provided few details on Monday.

New York's health commissioner is still declining to speculate when his agency will finish a review of the health effects of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, meaning the state appears no closer to allowing the controversial drilling process.

Dr. Nirav Shah told legislators in Albany on Monday that a conclusion is "not in the near future, where I can predict it."