New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent announcement that fracking would be banned in the state was cheered by environmentalists, but the great irony is that even environmentalists have reason to be upset with Cuomo, as fracking’s benefit has been to drive down the price of natural gas, which produces less CO2 when burned than coal.
To justify the ban, the state relied on dubious health studies that proved nothing much at all. What we do know, however, is that the decision will deny new economic opportunity for New Yorkers, where the unemployment rate remains an unimpressive 6 percent.
One thing is clear, though, which is that this should serve as warning that America’s ongoing energy revolution, the results of which have produced dramatic savings at the pumps for Americans, is always one overzealous politician or bureaucrat away from being snuffed out.
