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Petrochemicals - NY

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This working group focuses on issues surrounding the extraction, processing, and use of petrochemicals.

This working group focuses on issues surrounding the extraction, processing, and use of petrochemicals.

Members

mdmcdonald

Email address for group

petrochemicals-ny@m.resiliencesystem.org

Cuomo to Ban Fracking in New York State, Citing Health Risks

CLICK HERE - REPORT -
New York State Department of Health
A Public Health Review of High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing for Shale Gas Development (184 page .PDF report)

nytimes.com - By THOMAS KAPLAN and JESSE McKINLEY
December 17, 2014

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration announced on Wednesday that it would ban hydraulic fracturing in New York State because of concerns over health risks, ending years of uncertainty over the disputed method of natural gas extraction.

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Stephen Palumbi: The Hidden Toxins in the Fish We Eat -- and How to Stop Them

ted.com - Filmed April 2010

There's a tight link between the ocean's health and ours, says marine biologist Stephen Palumbi. He shows how toxins at the bottom of the ocean food chain find their way into our bodies, with a shocking story of toxic contamination from a Japanese fish market. His work points a way forward for saving the oceans' health — and humanity's.

http://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_palumbi_following_the_mercury_trail#t-923173

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New York Towns Can Ban Fracking Even If State Allows It: Court Ruling

      

Hundreds of protestors shout 'Ban Fracking Now' at a rally outside Gov. Cuomo's Manhattan fundraiser at the Hyatt Hotel on Monday. Also Monday, a top state court ruled that towns can ban the drilling practice even if the state allows it.  Nancy Siesel for new york daily news

nydailynews.com - by Kenneth Lovett - June 30, 2014

ALBANY — The state's top court on Monday ruled that local communities can ban the controversial drilling technique known as hydrofracking, whether or not the state agrees to allow the practice.

In its 5-2 decision, the Court of Appeals upheld local zoning ordinances passed by two central New York towns banning the drilling because of environmental concerns.

In her 28-page opinion, Judge Victoria Graffeo said the two towns “engaged in a reasonable exercise of their zoning authority.”

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Best of Both Worlds? Northeast Cut Emissions and Enjoyed Growth

Growing Economy, Falling Emissions

Economic growth has been stronger in nine Northeast states that have a current cap-and-trade program. Carbon emissions in those states have fallen much more quickly than in the rest of the country.

       

The New York Times
Sources: ENE; Energy Information Administration

nytimes.com - by Hannah Fairfield - June 6, 2014

Some critics of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new requirements for power plants argue that forcing emissions reduction will curtail economic growth. But the recent experience of states that already cap carbon emissions reveals that emissions and economic growth are no longer tightly tied together. . .

. . . The nine states already in the program — Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont — have substantially reduced their carbon emissions in recent years. At the same time, those states have had stronger economic growth than the rest of the country.

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In Some States, Emissions Cuts Defy Skeptics

Cutting Emissions
At least 10 states cut emissions from power plants by 30 percent or more between 2005 and 2012.

      

By The New York Times
Source: Georgetown Climate Center

nytimes.com - by JUSTIN GILLIS and MICHAEL WINES - June 6, 2014

The cries of protest have been fierce, warning that President Obama’s plan to cut greenhouse gases from power plants will bring soaring electricity bills and even plunge the nation into blackouts. . .

. . . Yet cuts on the scale Mr. Obama is calling for — a 30 percent reduction in emissions from the nation’s electricity industry by 2030 — have already been accomplished in parts of the country.

At least 10 states cut their emissions by that amount or more between 2005 and 2012, and several other states were well on their way, almost two decades before Mr. Obama’s clock for the nation runs out.

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Deadly New York Explosion Highlights Urgent Need To Fix City's Crumbling Gas Lines

huffingtonpost.com - March 13th, 2014 - Saki Knafo, Chris Kirkham

Public officials and engineers have long warned about the dangers posed by the outdated, moldering pipelines that snake beneath the streets of major cities like New York, feeding gas into the furnaces of millions of homes.

For nearly two decades, federal authorities have directed pipeline operators to replace these leak-prone, cast-iron lines with pipes made of plastic and other modern materials. And many states, including New York, have embarked on programs to do just that.

(VIEW COMPLETE POST)

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State Consultant Slams Fracking

submitted by Margery Schab

capitalnewyork.com - by Scott Waldman - March 7, 2014

ALBANY—A consultant hired by the state Health Department to assist in a review of the health effects of fracking recently published a study that concluded “substantial concerns and major uncertainties” should be resolved before it is expanded nationally.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has indicated that his final, long-awaited decision on whether to permit fracking will depend on the department's findings. 

John Adgate, of the Colorado School of Public Health, surveyed a number of recent health-related studies of fracking and published his findings last month in the Environmental Science & Technology journal.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Potential Public Health Hazards, Exposures and Health Effects from Unconventional Natural Gas Development

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De Blasio: Fracking Poses 'Too Much Danger To Water Supply' In New York

Bill de Blasio. Charles Norfleet via Getty Images

Image: Bill de Blasio. Charles Norfleet via Getty Images

huffingtonpost.com - January 24th, 2014

Speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C. Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio voiced his "firm" opposition to hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, in New York state.

"I don’t see any place for fracking," de Blasio said following a speech at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "The science simply isn’t reliable enough. The technology isn’t reliable enough. And, there’s too much danger to our water supply, to our environment in general."

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Tainted Water Testing Lab Flourished Under Lax New York State Regulators

submitted by Margery Schab

dcbureau.org - by Peter Mantius - November 20, 2013

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Even after armed federal investigators raided its offices in 2010 and the New York Department of Health suspended its state certification in early 2012, Upstate Laboratories Inc. continued its lucrative business of testing water samples from landfills and wastewater treatment plants across the state.

Officially, state environmental regulators will not accept test results from labs the DOH has not certified. The rule is fundamental to the integrity of the program that was designed to protect the state’s waterways from industrial pollution. Yet the state Department of Environmental Conservation kept accepting Upstate’s test results for more than a year after DEC managers learned of the suspension and wrote emails saying the results should be rejected.

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Tim DeChristopher: 'We Have to Be the Carbon Tax'

By Peter Rugh, Waging Nonviolence,07 November 13 - Reader Supported News

f you walk along Manhattan's West Side Highway, upon the long strip of bike lanes and greenery between the Hudson River and the droning automobiles, you'll come to a fresh patch of pavement that's a stone's throw away from the Pier 51 Playground. You can't tell by the look of it, but beneath the new asphalt hundreds of millions of cubic feet-worth of natural gas are flowing.

While the national climate movement has focused on the transnational Keystone XL pipeline, this tiny site has been the object of a more-than-two-year local battle over the first natural gas pipeline to enter New York City in 40 years. Objecting to the high radon content of the fracked gas and the risk of explosion this pipeline carries, my friends and I waged a campaign of legal challenges and protests against its operator, Spectra Energy Corporation.

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