Environmentalists and advocates are calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation expanding New York's fracking ban.
Members from Citizen Action, Frack Action and other environmental advocacy groups gathered outside the New York State Fair in Syracuse Wednesday to call on Hochul to sign a bill that bans fracking with carbon dioxide. The bill closes a loophole in the existing water-based fracking ban and has already passed in the state legislature.
Renee Vogelsang, New York director of Frack Action, said the legislation is important to maintaining healthy communities.
"This new, experimental form of gas drilling is highly untested and poses a lot of the same threats to our air, water and communities as the conventional, high-volume hydraulic fracking," Vogelsang said.
She said the fair is a great place to continue conversation on the dangers of fracking and to call on state officials to move quickly.
"We want to be out here continuing to educate the public on what is being proposed, many people don't know about it, and just to continue to show our support to her and her administration to go in the right direction," Vogelsang said.
Vogelsang said she fully expects Hochul to sign on with the bipartisan legislation.
The groups held their rally on the first day of the State Fair, which is typically considered "Governor's Day." Hochul did not appear at the fair, because she is in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday morning to mark the opening of the fair.
