14 DAY TRIAL // Fracking protesters in the United States do not yet master the art of supergluing themselves to various objects in order to stand up for what they believe in, as do folks in the United Kingdom, but there is little denying that they know exactly when and where to organize a rally.
This past January 8, thousands of people from various regions of New York gathered in Albany and demanded that Governor Andrew Cuomo ban hydraulic fracturing all across the state.
All in all, over 2,000 people, including representatives of about 100 green-oriented organizations, took part in the rally.
“Fracking does not and cannot meet the standards Gov. Cuomo has promised New Yorkers: that all watersheds are sacrosanct and that public health must be protected,” John Armstrong, a spokesperson for Frack Action and New Yorkers Against Fracking said, as cited by EcoWatch.
“As science shows that fracking is inherently dangerous, contaminates water and makes people sick, thousands of New Yorkers are rallying to call on Governor Cuomo to ban fracking,” he added.
As reported on several occasions, hydraulic fracturing boils down to injecting pressurized liquid into the underground in order to make it easier to access gas and oil resources.
Apart from contaminating local water sources and thus endangering public health, fracking is also believed to cause earthquakes. Hence, it should not come as a very big surprise that people wish to see it banned in the state of New York.
RT tells us that, although this latest protest against hydraulic fracturing took place while NY Governor Andrew Cuomo was delivering the State of the State address, the politician chose not to bring up the issue of fracking during his speech.
The protesters were not discouraged by this. On the contrary, they went about distributing two-sided fliers detailing the dangers associated with hydraulic fracturing to the State of the State participants.
“On a day when all eyes in the state are on Albany, we want to remind Governor Cuomo that New Yorkers won’t back off until he protects us by banning fracking,” stressed Alex Beauchamp, regional director of Food & Water Watch.
Furthermore, “The huge crowd here today speaks for a clear majority of New Yorkers that are expecting the governor to stand up for their health and safety, once and for all.”