NY Drilling Policies may be Shaped by Industry Dollars

Watchdog Group to Reveal Report Detailing Rise in Natural Gas Industry Lobbying Expenses

NEW YORK, NY (06/17/2010)(readMedia)-- NY Drilling Policies may be Shaped by Industry Dollars: Watchdog Group to Reveal Report Detailing Rise in Natural Gas Industry Lobbying Expenses

Visual: Graphic representations of lobbying expenditures in five year period

When: 11 a.m., Friday, June 18, 2010

Where: LCA Press Room, Rm. 130, Legislative Office Bldg., State St., Albany, N.Y.

Who: Common Cause/NY, Environmental Advocates of New York, and others

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 using significant financial resources to try to shut down attempts to regulate or slow the head-long rush to exploit the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays. Common Cause/NY will release the first of a series of reports reviewing the impact of these special interest dollars on the regulatory and legislative landscape controlling hydrofracking for natural gas in New York's Marcellus and Utica Shales-deep underground formations stretching from Eastern Ohio through to the shore of Lake Ontario, beneath the Catskill Mountains of New York, and down through northern and western Pennsylvania to West Virginia. Research and analysis by Common Cause/New York reveals that shaping the state's policies may come down to a contest between industry dollars--in ever escalating amounts–and public outcry.

###