New Yorkers not only use a lot of natural gas but also narrowly favor producing a lot of gas. The latest Siena University poll shows support for "fracking" in New York at 42-36. http://www.siena.edu/sri. The small margin in favor of fracking and implicitly lifting the moratorium has been steady.
Of course, the poll also would indicate that 22% of New Yorkers don't care one way or another.
The folks "upstate," where the gas is, and where high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing gas drilling and production would occur if the de facto moratorium that has allowed a "long hard look" at all of the implications of the processes is lifted, have consistently, and also in this latest poll from Sienna, disfavored doing such fossil fuel extraction.
ReplyDeleteStanley R Scobie, Binghamton, NY
Upstate is the place where the polls are likely to change the most if development ever takes place. This post links to poll data that shows support for drilling is highest in areas where it actually is taking place:
Deletehttp://johnhanger.blogspot.com/2012/11/critical-facts-support-for-gas-drilling.html
People in areas where drilling is occurring support it by 2 to 1. They see that most of the things that they are being told about the process aren't true or are exaggerations. The "long hard look" is including a lot of scenarios that never come to pass. Shale gas development is clearly not without problems but it is also clearly not without benefits to the people who live in the areas where it occurs. The problems are being exaggerated and the benefits are being minimized in the "long hard look."