Money rules in battle over gas drilling in Southern Tier
Posted by CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE at 6:21 AMALBANY -- As environmentalists and the natural-gas industry spar over the potential effects of controversial drilling techniques, they do have one thing in common: Both sides have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying in Albany.
A report Friday from the good-government group Common Cause/NY showed that the drilling industry has increased its spending substantially since 2008. And a Gannett Albany Bureau review of lobbying records also showed a spike in spending by environmental groups, although not to the level of the pro-drilling groups.
Two major gas companies -- Chesapeake Energy and Talisman Energy (formerly Fortuna Energy) -- and one trade group, the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York, shelled out $668,984 in lobbyist compensation and expenses in 2009. The three entities spent just $109,747 the year before, Common Cause's report shows.
In the first four months of this year, Chesapeake Energy alone has spent $658,273 on lobbying expense, according to the report.
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