FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dan Fitzsimmons, JLCNY,
BINGHAMTON – June 30, 2015 – The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York issued the following press release in response to the issuance of the DEC findings statement for the final SGEIS:
Dan Fitzsimmons, President of the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York said: “After years of exhaustive political maneuvering, Governor Cuomo chose the environmental extremists over New York’s hard working rural Americans. He focused on his political future instead of the opportunities that have reinvigorated the American economy and increased our nation’s energy security. ”
“Governor Cuomo has dealt a devastating blow to thousands of Upstate New Yorkers who had hoped to pull themselves up from economic despair. The Governor’s Upstate New York policies have led to the largest out-migration of any state in the nation, causing Southern Tier residents to call for secession to Pennsylvania.”
“The DEC’s findings statement cannot be reconciled with the EPA’s recent findings that hydraulic fracturing activities in the U.S. do not have widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources. The EPA’s exhaustive review of hydraulic fracturing confirmed what we have always known - New York can safely regulate hydraulic fracturing while enjoying the economic benefits that are rejuvenating the nation.”
“The EPA’s blessing of hydraulic fracturing exposes Governor Cuomo’s self-serving political motivations for the entire nation to see.”