Landowners knock Cuomo for hydrofracking delay

News of a renewed round of (potentially lengthy) delay in the state’s decision on whether to allow high-volume hydrofracking brought a round of restrained reaction from the natural-gas industry, which generally expressed disappointment but confidence in the process moving forward.

There was no such restraint from a coalition of pro-fracking landowners.

The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York—a collection of landowners groups from across the state—issued a rather scathing statement this afternoon, knocking Gov. Andrew Cuomo for having “turned his back” on landowners.

A selection from the lengthy statement:

“Our message to hypocritical opposition activists is this: If you are part of the Hollywood elite calling for delays in New York, you should be pleased that you have the Governor’s ear. Unfortunately, the Governor has turned his back on the landowners in New York and simply doesn’t care that we are struggling to pay the highest real property tax rates in the country, recovering from two devastating floods and watching as our communities decline, businesses flee and we bleed jobs such as the recent loss of 575 jobs expected from Sikorsky’s departure in Big Flats. We are baffled about how our state can ignore the biggest economic opportunity we will see in our lifetimes while we struggle to survive during the largest recession since the Great Depression. We hope Commissioner Shah is also considering the health effects of unemployment and poverty.”

Meanwhile, Clean Growth Now—a separate coalition that includes the landowners group and various business entities—has continued advertising in newspapers across the Southern Tier. One of its latest ads, pictured below, targets Cuomo by touting the support for hydrofracking shown by President Barack Obama, GOP nominee Mitt Romney and New York City Michael Bloomberg.

The Clean Growth Now ad is below. The full statement from the Joint Landowners Coalition can be read here.

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