New York State Faces a Turning Point in Debate Over Natural Gas Fracking

摘要

New York's long political debate over whether to permit extraction of the state's natural gas reserves via the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, may be finally coming to an end. A Feb. 27 deadline to issue final fracking regulations will likely expire without new rules in place, but Albany is inching closer to releasing a separate environmental impact statement that could allow the state to begin issuing fracking licenses within months. This article traces the path the state has taken to reach this turning point in the debate over fracking.