NY Drilling Policies May Be Shaped by Industry Dollars

Common Cause/New York's Report Shows Dramatic Increase in Industry Lobbying Expenses

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NEW YORK, NY (06/18/2010)(readMedia)-- Common Cause/New York today released a report entitled Deep Drilling, Deep Pockets, Expenditures of the Natural Gas Industry in New York to Influence Public Policy, Part 1 – Lobbying Expenditures, a detailed analysis of the natural gas industry's lobbying expenditures in New York State over the 2005-2009 five year periods, as well as the first four months of 2010.

As New York State determines whether to permit natural gas exploitation using the controversial hydraulic fracturing technique, industry has poured millions of dollars into lobbying the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The analysis, based on lobbying reports filed with the New York State Commission on Public Integrity, shows a dramatic jump in the amounts natural gas companies are spending in lobbying in the last 2 years.

The rise in spending has been significant enough to catapult one company, Chesapeake Energy, into the top 50 lobbing spenders in 2009. Common Cause/New York's analysis shows that the natural gas industry's lobbying focus has shifted to now encompass spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on "grassroots campaigns."

"Our analysis shows the substantial amounts which the natural gas industry is willing to spend to shut down attempts to regulate or slow the head-long rush to exploit the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays," said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/New York. "New York State's policies regarding hydro-fracking will have a profound impact on the future of our state. It is imperative that those policies are not unduly influenced by large infusions of natural gas industry dollars in the guise of 'grassroots campaigns.' We call on New York's leaders to heed the concerns of all New Yorkers, not only those backed by hundreds of thousands of industry dollars, in evaluating the safety of this controversial drilling process."

"The findings of the Common Cause/NY report are disturbing though not surprising," said Katherine Nadeau, water & natural resources program director for Environmental Advocates of New York. "The natural gas industry sees the potential for profit in New York and they are doing business the only way they know how--attempting to buy influence. The stakes in the fight to regulate industrial gas development couldn't be higher. New Yorkers realize this and are working together to put public need over corporate greed."

This is the first in a series of reports by Common Cause/New York looking at factors that may influence New York's policies regarding natural gas extraction. Later reports will examine campaign contributions and officials' financial disclosures so that the public can more fully understand the decision-making process and hold their representatives accountable to ensure that the policies adopted are fair and objective, and responsive to the concerns of all New Yorkers..

A copy of the full report can be obtained at www.commoncause.org/NY, emailing NYOffice@commoncause.org or calling 212-691-6421.

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