Since the surprising passage of a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing by the New York Senate on Tuesday night, the political chess pieces have been moving around the board.
Our own Catskills-area state senator John Bonacic, who reversed his previous pro-drilling position by voting for the moratorium, is being called a flip-flopper by his Democratic rival for the seat, David Sager. Reports the Daily Freeman:
Sager, a Sullivan County legislator, said Wednesday that Bonacic had supported drilling since 2008 before changing his position recently and still has not taken a sufficiently strong stand against the drilling industry ... Bonacic, Sager said, has seized on the one-year moratorium that passed the Senate late Tuesday “to portray himself as the hapless victim of New York City interests and the (state) Senate Democrats who control the agenda.”
Still, Bonacic has the financial advantage -- to the tune of about $700,000 -- according to the Times Herald-Record.
The Freeman has another story today that takes a broader view of how pro- and anti- gas drilling factions are reacting to the moratorium bill, which will come before the State Assembly when it next convenes.
State Senate passage of a moratorium against drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus shale region has environmental groups energized while energy industry officials have accelerated the campaign to defeat a state Assembly version of the bill.
In other words, expect to hear more about gas drilling in the coming weeks. A lot more.
