Cuomo Moves Toward Fracking In 2010, the New York state legislature passed a bill that would put a hold on fracking. Then-Governor Paterson vetoed it, but put in place his own moratorium on fracking, pending a study on its environmental impacts. The study would be conducted by the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) — putting the decision on fracking squarely in the hands of the governor’s office. When Andrew Cuomo became governor in 2011, the administra- tion began moving forward on regulations. Even back then, we understood this was an outrageous and unfounded move.
VOICES FROM THE SOUTHERN TIER
M y husband Frank and I moved to Erin, New York from Kansas during the summer of 2005. Oil companies drilled heavily in our area in Kansas, so when a landman arrived at our door in Erin, we said, “No, thanks, and don’t come back!” We had about seven acres of land, beautiful land, with open fields and woods run-through with walking paths. To this day, I think of the Erin home as “ours,” cherishing the memories we made there, such as our daughter’s marriage on the lawn, roaming the paths with our cats, and Frank building an outdoor bread oven. But before long, a compressor station was built less than a mile as the crow flies from our home, and we began hearing of fracking-contam- Leslie Potter Anti-fracking activist and founding member of People for a Healthy Environment
inated water in Dimock, Pennsylva- nia. To escape drilling territory, we decided to sell this place we’d come to love in 2010 — nevertheless, we continued to fight fracking and fossil fuel projects in the region with People for a Healthy Environment.
A view of the landscape outside Leslie Potter’s home in Erin, NY, threatened by fossil fuel infrastructure and the pros- pect of fracking.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo addresses press. Flickr.com / Marc A. Hermann
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People Power vs. Fracking 12
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