National Leaders Respond to Governor Cuomo’s Climate Change and Environmental Protection Initiatives in His State of the State Address

Leaders of several national environmental organizations released statements today in response to climate change and environmental protection initiatives in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State address. On Monday, over 80 organizations – including national environmental groups – sent a letter to Governor Cuomo challenging him on the contradiction between his environmental priorities and fracking, and urging him to be a national leader on climate change.
 
“It’s good that Gov. Cuomo now recognizes the danger of climate change,” said Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org. “We’ll know how deep that recognition really runs when he makes the decision about whether or not to open New York State to one more forms of fossil fuel production.”
 
“Governor Cuomo’s talk regarding combating climate change will be just that – talk, if he doesn’t walk the walk and ban fracking in New York,” said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “The process of fracking has been directly linked to climate change, so why is the Governor still waffling on this issue.”
 
“New York should seize this chance to protect our water and our climate by banning fracking before irrevocable damage is done,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “This dangerous form of oil and gas extraction results in massive greenhouse gas pollution that could tip us over the edge into catastrophic global warming. Banning fracking is critical to reducing our nation’s growing risk of extreme weather and other climate-related problems.”

Contact: Seth Gladstone, Food & Water Watch,( 718) 943.8063, sgladstone(at)fwwatch(dot)org.