LETTER FROM WASHINGTON: DECEMBER 2010

摘要

New York Governor David Paterson has ordered the state's Department of Environmental Conservation to "intensify its analysis" of the impact of hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells and has prohibited the drilling of such wells until at least July 1, 2011. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking for short, is one of the bedrock technologies that underpins the US shale gas revolution. Paterson, who leaves office in January, also vetoed a bill the New York Legislature passed in late November that would have banned both horizontal hydraulic drilling and more conventional vertical drilling for natural gas until May 15.