Opinion

Gov. Cuomo’s ugly message to biz

Gov. Cuomo likes to declare that New York is “open for business,” but his prolonged refusal to OK hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, sends the opposite message, even as it inflicts real economic losses on some of New York’s most depressed communities.

Cuomo statedover two years agothat science would determine how the state moved forward with hydraulic fracturing. That should have meant a rapid OK — since more than 1.2 million oil and natural-gas wells have been “fracked” without incident.

That record prompted top officials in the Clinton, BushandObamaadministrations to declare the process safe.

Instead, Cuomo put fracking on hold for a supposed review of possible public-health risks. Again, the record clearly shows no such threat, assuming basic safety regulations like those New York has drafted. In fact, his Health Department finished a health review in February 2012 — and the Cuomo administration kept it from the public for nearly a year.

That report found that “significant adverse impacts on human health are not expected from routine [fracking] operations.” Indeed, “the state’s proposed regulations would prevent any potential health risks from air emissions, water contamination, and radioactive materials unearthed during the drilling process.”

Yet last month the Cuomo administration failed to meet yet another deadline, claiming it needed more time toreview three other outside studies.

Just to keep everyone guessing, at a March 11 Cabinet meetingCuomo denied that was the cause of the delay, saying, “We never said you had to wait for one of those studies or all three of those studies to finish,” before the state concludes its review.

If this weren’t such an important topic to New York’s economic success, this dossier of government franticness would be humorous. But the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Recent economic data shows that, for the second year in a row, no area of New York saw a decrease in its unemployment rate. This is especially problematic in the Southern Tier, where fracking would occur.

The unemployment rate in Elmira rose from 8.8 percent in January 2012 to 10.5 percent last month; Tioga County’s unemployment rate now registers at10.3 percent, Chemung County’s at10.5 percent and Steuben County at 11.9 percent.

Yet the impact of Cuomo’s stall is statewide, since the lack of cheap local natural gas helps keep New York stuck with thefourth-highest electricity pricesin the nation.

As Cuomo continues to vacillate, other Democrats are charging ahead. President Obama said in this year’s State of the Union Address, “The natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy independence . . . and that’s why my administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits.” And Govs. Jerry Brown of California and John Hickenlooper of Colorado are actively embracing fracking.

Just last week, Brown — a lifelong progressive on energy issues — called for a closer look at “fracking” because“California needs a healthy and vibrant oil and gas industry, which brings good jobs and revenue to our state.”

Nationwide, the technology has driven a resurgence in US oil and natural-gas production, creating over $545 billion in economic activity and 9 percent of all new US jobs.

If Cuomo could muster the same political leadership as other leaders, New Yorkers would see a much-needed economic uptick. TheDepartment of Environmental Conservation says fracking could generate nearly54,000 jobs. And a Manhattan Institute reviewfound that shale development could bring an added $11.4 billion in economic output to the state while providing nearly $1.4 billion in local and state tax revenues.

It all seems out-of-step for a governor who on taking office declared job creation as his No. 1 priority. Instead, we’ve had the stall — and, in the past few weeks, the departure of two top Cuomo aides charged with overseeing the matter.

Is it any wonder that, in a recent survey,the nation’s CEOs rated New York the second-worst state in which to do business?

John Krohn is is a spokesperson for Energy In Depth, an industry-sponsored group striving to educate the public on natural-gas development.