Petition « Energy in Depth

Right now, and for the remainder of December, New York's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is asking the public to share its views on the important role that responsible natural gas development can play in lifting the local economy and putting New Yorkers back to work.

In September, DEC released a draft plan for regulating and overseeing this process — an 804-page document filled with safeguards and protections for the state's land, water and people. Without these regulations, no new energy exploration will take place — and no new jobs will be created as a result.

Now it's time to tell DEC what you think. To get you started, we've provided a sample letter below. Feel free to edit as you see fit. And don't forget to include your name and mailing address in the appropriate fields. The comment period expires on Dec. 31, 2009 — so it's important to act now.

Your Message

Dear Mr. Grannis:
                            
Nearly 900,000 workers in New York are currently unemployed, and according to the federal government, the rate at which our state continues to hemorrhage these jobs stands at about 500 a day.

Thankfully, your Department finds itself in a unique position to help steer New York back on path to prosperity. In my judgment, a responsible plan for developing our state's abundant reserves of clean-burning natural gas in the Marcellus represents a critical component of that broader effort. I write today to communicate my strong support for the draft DEC regulatory plan released in September, and to pass along my appreciation for taking the time to consider my views.

As you may know, natural gas exploration is nothing new in the state of New York; the first commercial gas well in the world was dug in Fredonia nearly 190 years ago, and today the state supports more than 14,000 operating gas wells.

But the Marcellus Shale is truly a singular resource — by some estimates, holding as much as 516 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, much of it spread across thousands of acres in Pennsylvania and New York. It's a reality of which our friends to the south are well aware: In just a single year, the state of Pennsylvania leveraged its share of the Marcellus into 29,000 high-wage jobs and $240 million in state and local taxes — numbers that are expected to nearly double in the year to come.

Similarly extraordinary opportunities lie ready to be realized right here in New York. According to one recent study, Broome County in the Southern Tier has enough natural gas within its boundaries to create 16,000 jobs and $14 billion in local economic activity — and that's just in a single county! And keep in mind we're talking about producing one of the cleanest, most versatile fuels in existence today — a carbon-constrained energy resource that is nonetheless used to heat our homes, electrify our lives, and manufacture everything from face cream to fertilizer.

Of course, like you, I've read with interest (and occasional disgust) of the efforts by some interest groups to cast the technology used to find and produce this gas as a dangerous, untested and unregulated technique. It's called hydraulic fracturing, and let me assure you, the actual facts surrounding its history of use and record of safety couldn't be at greater odds with how they've been characterized in the press.

Indeed, in commercial use now for more than 60 years, hydraulic fracturing has not once been credibly tied to the contamination of drinking water. And it's not difficult to understand why: almost before the technology was assigned a name, states environmental agencies have smartly and aggressively regulated the process from start to finish, allowing it to be put to use in a way that makes the creation of new jobs possible, and the delivery affordable energy a reality.

And as states have continued to regulate and oversee the fracturing process, our leaders in Washington have continued to study the technology as well. In perhaps the government's most exhaustive review, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found "no confirmed cases" of contamination arising from hydraulic fracturing. State reviews have produced similar results. In fact, your department recently noted "no record of any documented instance groundwater contamination caused by hydraulic fracturing for gas well development — despite the use of this technology in thousands of wells across the state during the past 50 or more years."

It's for all these reasons — and myriad others — that I wish to pass along my support for shale gas exploration in our state, and to commend you and your Department for producing a draft regulatory framework that protects our drinking water, preserves our open spaces, and yet maximizes our potential to convert homegrown energy resources into jobs, security and revenue for the future.

I ask that you produce a final plan consistent with these vital imperatives. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

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