Foes of hydraulic fracturing are opening a new front in their war to ban the practice in New York: They’re claiming it’s a threat to the region’s “heritage” and tourism.
No joke. The Preservation League, considered a leading historic-preservation group, just placed the entire Marcellus Shale — New York’s prime source of natural gas — on its annual list of endangered historic sites, because of the possible harm from “fracking.”
The lesson’s clear. The longer Gov. Cuomo waits to give the go-ahead for the practice — a well-established method of extracting natural gas — the more time foes have to dream up new reasons to say “no.”
And cost New York countless jobs and economic activity.
The preservationists cite the “high volume of truck traffic,” among other things, as a threat to “heritage tourism” — which it calls “a growing industry in many parts of the Marcellus Shale.”
Yet whatever “heritage tourism” would be lost, if any, would pale next to the proven long-term economic benefits of fracking. Let’s be honest: The region’s economy is desperate for new business.
Fortunately, the group has no official power — though it does have some clout.
Meanwhile, other foes have warned of environmental and health risks from the technique — none of which, of course, has ever been borne out by history or science.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, as activist as they come, admits it’s safe.
But the excuses to kill the idea, lame as they are, are starting to build — even as Cuomo & Co. continue to “study” it.
It’s been almost a year since his folks suggested the process move forward. And New York is the only state that bans it.
Any further delays may prove critical.
Let’s hope that is isn’t the whole idea.