As the pro-hydrofracking forces rally at the Capitol today, Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon urged Gov. Andrew Cuomo to not rush a health review on the controversial drilling technique.
They issued the statement on behalf of Artists Against Fracking, a group of more than 180 artists that includes Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Mark Ruffalo and Gwyneth Paltrow.
“We call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to clearly announce that he will not rush his health study of the effects of fracking for gas in order to meet an upcoming November 29th regulatory deadline,” Ono and Lennon said in the statement.
“No legitimate, credible health study can possibly be completed by next month. Any such rush would show that the health study announcement was a political diversion to mollify the growing opposition to fracking. We applauded the governor for conducting such a study but are now quite alarmed.”
Cuomo last month indicated that the state would conduct a health impact study on hydrofracking, which has been on hold in New York since 2008. A few weeks later, the state Department of Environmental Conservation indicated it could miss a November deadline to approve regulations on hydrofracking—which would reset some of the process.
Environmental groups wanted Cuomo to hire an outside firm to conduct the health review, but Cuomo decided to do it internally. There’s no sense of how long it will take, which appears to have frustrated Ono and Lennon.
“We are also alarmed that there has been no transparency on this study. Who is conducting it and how? What experts are being consulted? There needs to be a public process and open hearings of course,” they said in the statement. “Is it examining effects on water, air, pregnant women, agriculture, psychological stress, social health such as increased traffic accidents and crime, and strain on emergency services? The public has no idea.”
Meanwhile, pro-fracking groups just walked up State Street for a rally at the Capitol, as shown above.
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With the high cost of living and taxes, it’s tough to hold on to land that has been in the family for decades or even hundreds of years. There’s a lot of love for the land, especially if you and your ancestors have walked it, worked it, planted it,cultivated it, lived on it and plan to die on it. That’s a human life invested that can be taken away just because the taxes go unpaid. Blood, sweat and tears are on that land. I know. My family have lived here since before this was the USA and we are struggling. So I can understand why many would want to get money to help them pay their taxes. But no amount of money is worth ruining our most precious resource,water, forever. You can’t drink money. The Catskill Mountains of NY State- such a beautiful rural and wilderness area in upstate New York, with reservoirs that supply NY City with water. We have some of the purest freshwater in the world and want to keep it that way. This is what we are doing: http://www.sovereignpeople.net/index.html Check out the entire website and documents. Originally starting in the heart of the Catskills, this is now the fastest growing anti- fracking movement across NY state