CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

We need fresh water to live. Only 1 percent of the world’s water is potable and safe for use. Two of the world’s biggest sources of potable fresh water are the Great Lakes and the Finger Lakes. So why would we want to risk polluting these vital sources with toxic chemicals used in hydrofracking?

Water is clearly more valuable to our survival than natural gas. There is no adequate way to process the toxic waste for hydrofracking in New York State. The air pollution from the hauling, the damage to roads, the cost of trucking the toxic waste out of state would be enormous.

Recent economic studies have shown that the costs of hydrofracking are egregious for taxpayers. We should not rush into hydrofracking; we should wait until a safe, responsible method for gas extraction is discovered and peer reviewed by scientists, biologists, economists and environmental specialists.

We might feel desperate enough to believe that hydrofracking will bring jobs. However, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an advisor to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s hydrofracking panel, stated an Oct. 11 article, The Fracking Industry’s War On The New York Times — And The Truth, “Gas fracking flacks routinely make extravagant promises about bringing jobs and income to the depressed rural communities. If those jobs and royalties don’t come — the way they have not come for people in Bradford County, Pa. — New Yorkers will be justifiably angry, as they wonder why the government and our panel did not protect them when there were so many warning signs.”

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