Hydraulic Fracturing in New York

Ramon Vallarino
Sociology Period 2
Mr. Bolen
12/21/11

In the world today, most people depend on energy from oil to fuel their lives, putting a
great amount of power in the hands of foreign oil-exporting countries. The US is almost
completely dependent on foreign oil as of now, and that is why many efforts are being made to
find sources of energy that are closer to home and that are cheaper than foreign oil. This is where
hydraulic fracturing comes in. Hydraulic fracturing is a process where water and sand are
pumped into a well in such a way that the surrounding rock fractures.1 The sand then keeps the
cracks open as the water is pumped out, allowing oil and natural gas to fill the well.2 The gas and
oil can then be processed into the products that we need to fuel our lives.3 The only real problem
with this process is that there is the potential for byproducts of the drilling to contaminate the soil
and water reservoirs that New Yorkers rely on to make their livings and to live their lives.
The hydraulic fracturing process is cheap and quick, but can also be tolling on the
environment, and that is the cause of debate over the issue. It is easy to agree that we need to
stop relying completely on foreign oil, but it is not so easy to choose and agree upon the methods
that we use to accomplish this goal because of their potential negative effects on the
environment. The debate is as to whether or not hydraulic fracturing will cause significant
damage to the environment and whether we should risk such serious problems as and that is why
a bill, bill S04220, has been proposed that will prohibit hydraulic fracturing in New York if
passed. It has been referred to the Department of Environmental Conservation for deliberation.4
New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD) and the National Resources Defense
Council (NRDC) are both against hydraulic fracturing in New York, and the Business Council of
New York (BCNYS) and Clean Growth Now are supporters of it. Clean Growth Now will have
the greatest success in influencing the government on this issue.
1

Chesapeake Energy, The Process par. 2

Chesapeake Energy, The Process par. 2
3
Chesapeake Energy, The Process par. 2
4
NYS Assembly. S04220 Summary. par. 2
2

One group that is against hydraulic fracturing in New York is New York Residents
Against Drilling. This is a very small group that is made up of dedicated New Yorkers who dont
want to see the natural beauty of New York ruined by hydraulic fracturing activities.5 They do all
that they can to raise awareness on the issue and to encourage people to stand against hydraulic
fracturing once they have been shown the potential effects that it could have on the natural
environment around their homes.6 Also, they are always willing to work with other groups that
are against hydraulic fracturing in New York, so many of the things that they do are
collaborations with other groups.7 New York Residents Against Drilling has a very small
membership of around 60 people and has no paid employees.8 Every cent that they receive of
donations goes to making signs and educating people about the dangers of hydraulic fracturing.9
It is for those simple reasons that they must collaborate with others, because they can only do so
much with their limited people and funds.
One action taken by this group was when they participated in a large gathering at Auburn
whose focus was to get people to sign petitions against hydraulic fracturing, to teach people how
to write deep and thoughtful letters to Governor Cuomo and a few Senators, and to teach people
about the dangers of hydraulic fracturing.10 Another campaign that they participated in was the
webinar that they used to teach people about how bad hydraulic fracturing is for the
environment. Unfortunately, since the group is so small, their effectiveness is definitely
questionable, and that is why New York Residents Against Drilling is not the most influential
group campaigning for this issue.

NYRAD. About NYRAD. par. 1-2

NYRAD. About NYRAD. par. 2-3
7
NYRAD. About NYRAD. par. 6
8
NYRAD. Donate.
9
NYRAD. Donate.
10
NYRAD. Calendar.
6

Another group that opposes hydraulic fracturing in New York is the National Resources Defense
Council. The National Resources Defense Council is one of the largest and most successful
environmentalist groups in the world today, and they are constantly using their influence to
benefit the earth and to give all living things a clean and healthy home.11 It is widely acclaimed
as one of the best charities to give to because of their persistent work towards saving the planet
and it has one of the highest ratings when it comes to putting money directly towards their
causes.12 In other words, the National Resources Defense Council is a force for the good of the
earth, and they jump on almost every major issue to ensure that the environment is preserved and
protected from any possibilities of destruction.13
The National Resources Defense Council has over 1.3 million members that are from all
over the globe and that are constantly organizing rallies, speeches, and talks to educate people
and to warn them of the harm that can be done to the environment if they aren't careful.14 This is
a great focus for such a large organization to have, and to achieve their various number of goals
they require a lot of money. This is why they have such a huge budget of over $100 million.15
The National Resources Defense Council has taken a few actions against this issue here
in New York. One action they took was organizing a rally before an open hearing held by the
Department of Environmental Conservation on the issue.16 This hearing was the last of four
hearings throughout New York, which means that it was the last chance that New Yorkers had to
voice their opinions on hydraulic fracturing directly to the committee that is deliberating bill
S04220.17 Another action they took was to have their members send their feelings on hydraulic
11
12

NRDC, Who We Are par. 1

NRDC, Who We Are par. 2
13
NRDC, Who We Are par. 5
14
NRDC, Who We Are par. 1
15
NRDC. NRDC Financial Report
16
Sinding. Turn out par. 13
17
Sinding. Turn out par. 1

fracturing to Governor Cuomo.18 They did this by putting up an easy way to send an opinion on
their website, allowing everyone who wanted to help out to go to the page and either write their
own message or send a sample letter that the National Resources Defense Council had written
for them.19 These actions are relatively small for such a huge organization, and that is why they
won't be the most effective in influencing the government on this issue.
One group that supports hydraulic fracturing in New York is the Business Council of
New York. This group is made up of thousands of member companies that employ over 1.2
million New Yorkers, so clearly they have a lot of following and influence.20 They have a large
budget of around $7 million that they put towards programs that benefit businesses.21 Founded in
1980, the Business Council of New York continues the work of the two bodies that merged in
order to make it, Associated Industries of New York State and the Empire State Chamber of
Commerce.22 The prerogative of this group is to do what is best for New Yorks industry by
stimulating economic growth and creating jobs, so they have the working man in mind when
they are advocating certain issues.23
The biggest and most important action that this group took was sending their CEO,
Heather Briccetti, to give expert testimony to the Assembly Standing Committee on
Environmental Conservation on hydraulic fracturing.24 During this testimony, Briccetti makes it
clear that after extensive research and extra precaution-taking, it is finally time for hydraulic
fracturing to be allowed in the state.25 This action probably sticks out in the minds of the
Environmental Conservation committee because they know that the Business Council of New
18

NRDC. Tell Gov. par. 1

NRDC. Tell Gov. par. 2
20
BCNYS. Frequently Asked Questions. par. 2
21
Guide Star. Business
22
BCNYS. Frequently Asked Questions. par. 3
23
BCNYS. Frequently Asked Questions. par. 4
24
BCNYS. Briccetti
25
BCNYS. Briccetti
19

York has what's best for business in mind, so they wouldnt be backing hydraulic fracturing so
intensely if they knew that it was a bad thing for the state. All of the bad things trickle down in
business, and surely the Business Council of New York knows that if any problems result from
hydraulic fracturing, the pain will be felt elsewhere in the economy as well, particularly in the
form of healthcare because of the water contamination risks associated with hydraulic fracturing.
Another group that supports hydraulic fracturing in New York is Clean Growth Now.
Clean Growth Now is a coalition of multiple groups that have an interest in the production of
cleaner fuels, in this case natural gas from hydraulic fracturing, and the formation of new jobs to
get New Yorkers back to work after unemployment rates have been increasing during the last few
years.26 Their main goals are to boost the economy, have the state play a big role in how these
hydraulic fracturing sites operate, and set up a system of fail-safes that will safeguard natural
resources from the possible negative effects that are associated with hydraulic fracturing. 27
Clean Growth Now is made up of 17 different groups, so it is hard to say exactly how
many members they have or how large their budget is.28 However, 17 leading New York
community groups is a lot, and that is why Clean Growth Now is moving to the foreground of
this issue and is really starting to make an impact on peoples minds.29 While they remain
uncertain, the membership and budget numbers for this group are going to be very high, both
possibly being in the tens of millions.
One action that Clean Growth Now took was to have many supporters of hydraulic
fracturing meet in Dansville to voice their opinions on hydraulic fracturing to the Department of
Environmental Conservation at one of their hearings on the issue.30 Other groups have done this,
26

Clean Growth Now. About Us. par. 1-3

Clean Growth Now. About Us. par. 5-7
28
Clean Growth Now. Members.
29
Clean Growth Now. Members.
30
Clean Growth Now. Supporters par. 1-3
27

but it is more significant for people all under one group to go out and do something together, so
this particular assembly probably had a larger impact than most. Groups like these need all the
public support that they can get, but what really made this special is that leading members of the
coalition went and testified at these hearings, giving insight into how much hydraulic fracturing
could help New York and how hard they would strive to keep the environment pristine while
doing it.31 Clean Growth Now will be most successful in influencing the government because
they are huge. They have lots of support and hopefully enough people on their side to sway the
minds of politicians, so I think that this, along with the expert testimonies given by some of the
groups leaders, will culminate in the allowance of hydraulic fracturing, and bill S04220 will be
declined, allowing hydraulic fracturing to run rampant throughout the state.
These groups are all trying to influence the Assembly of New York. The Assembly is a
part of New Yorks legislative branch of government, and it is on the state level of government.
For a bill to become a law in the New York State legislature, it must go through a number
of steps.32 The first step is for an Assembly member to think of a bill.33 Ideas for bills can be
taken from constituents and organized interest groups or can simply be thought up as one looks
at the needs and wants of the people around them.34
Once an Assembly member, or multiple Assembly members as is often the case, has
chosen a bill to sponsor, bill drafting specialists will come in to work with the assembly member
in order to produce a bill with the exact specifications necessary for the situation.35 It is important
that the bill is specific because any loopholes can leave a bill in a state of mispurpose or
inefficiency.
31

Clean Growth Now. Supporters par. 2-3

New York State Assembly. Bill par. 1
33
New York State Assembly. Bill par. 1
34
New York State Assembly. Bill par. 1
35
New York State Assembly. Bill par. 2
32

Next, the speaker of the Assembly, who is elected by the 150 Assembly members, gives
the bill to a specialized committee to be reviewed.36 In this case, the bill was given to the
Department of Environmental Conservation because it was a matter of protecting the
environment. The committee members will search through the bill to make sure there aren't any
mistakes or loopholes.37 They then vote to either "kill," it, hold on to it to do more research on
the issue, or send it back to the Assembly for it to be voted on.38 However, a bill might have to go
through multiple committees, so it can sometimes take a very long time for a bill to come to a
vote.39
When the bill is put before the Assembly for a vote, either it will immediately be voted on
or there will be some debate. If a debate occurs, the sponsor or sponsors of the bill will speak to
the rest of the Assembly about the bill and why they think it should be enacted.40 After this, the
bill will be voted on by the Assembly. If it fails, the bill is dismissed, but if it passes, the bill is
then sent to the Senate, where the bill will go through a similar process.41
If the bill passes in both houses of congress, the bill will then be sent to the Governor,
where it will either be signed into law or vetoed.42 If the bill is vetoed, a two thirds majority vote
in the legislature will still make it into a law, but if the vote fails, the bill is dead.43
Hydraulic fracturing is a hard issue to pick a side on because it can impact the lives of
yourself and the people around you, but Clean Growth Now is going to begin turning people to
their side. They are definitely impacting the government with the greatest magnitude, and they
will most have bill S04220 thrown out in the near future to allow hydraulic fracturing to spread
36

New York State Assembly. Bill par. 3

New York State Assembly. Bill par. 3
38
New York State Assembly. Bill par. 3
39
New York State Assembly. Bill par. 3
40
New York State Assembly. Bill par. 4
41
New York State Assembly. Bill par. 4
42
New York State Assembly. Bill par. 5
43
New York State Assembly. Bill par. 5
37

throughout New York, bringing jobs, an economic boost, and hopefully no major environmental
impacts.

Works Cited
Business Council of New York. Briccetti gives testimony at Assembly hearing on hydraulic
fracturing. The Business Council. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.bcnys.org/inside/faqs.htm>.

Business Council of New York. Frequently Asked Questions. The Business Council. Web. 13
Dec. 2011. <http://www.bcnys.org/inside/faqs.htm>.
Chesapeake Energy. The Process. Hydraulic Fracturing. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.hydraulicfracturing.com/Process/Pages/information.aspx>.
Clean Growth Now. About Us. Clean Growth Now. Web. 20 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.cleangrowthnow.org/about-us/>.
Clean Growth Now. Announcing Clean Growth Now. Clean Growth Now. Web. 20 Dec.
2011. <http://www.cleangrowthnow.org/2011/10/announcing-clean-growth-now/>.
Clean Growth Now. Members. Clean Growth Now. Web. 20 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.cleangrowthnow.org/members/>.
Clean Growth Now. Supporters Turn Out for Dansville DEC Hearing. Clean Growth Now.
Web. 20 Dec. 2011. <http://www.cleangrowthnow.org/2011/11/supporters-turn-out-fordansville-dec-hearing/>.
Guide Star. Business Council of New York. Guide Star. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
<http://www2.guidestar.org/ReportNonProfit.aspx?ein=14-1401680>.
Kate Sinding. Turn out and tell NY not to plow ahead with risky fracking. National Resources
Defense Council. Web. 10 Dec. 2011.
<http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ksinding/turn_out_and_tell_the_state_no.html>.
National Resources Defense Council. NRDC Financial Report. National Resources Defense
Council. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nrdc.org/about/annual/finances.pdf>.
National Resources Defense Council. Tell Gov. Cuomo to protect New York's water supplies
from fracking risks. National Resources Defense Council. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.
<https://secure.nrdconline.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=216>.

National Resources Defense Council. Who We Are. National Resources Defense Council.
Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nrdc.org/about/who_we_are.asp>.
New York Residents Against Drilling. About NYRAD. New York Residents Against Drilling.
Web. 16 Dec. 2011.

<http://nyrad.org/about.html>.

New York Residents Against Drilling. Calendar. New York Residents Against Drilling. Web.
16 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nyrad.org/calendar.html>.
New York Residents Against Drilling. Donate. New York Residents Against Drilling. Web. 16
Dec. 2011. <http://nyrad.org/donate.html>.
New York State Assembly. S04220 Summary. New York State Assembly. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.
<http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?
default_fld=&bn=S04220&term=2011&Summary=Y&Actions=Y>.
New York State Assembly. How a Bill becomes a Law.

New York State Assembly. Web. 20

Dec. 2011. <http://assembly.ny.gov/member_files/017/20070111/>.