Question Of The Day: A Moratorium on Hydrofracking

Sen. Jack Martins, R-Mineola, recently co-sponsored legislation to place a one-year moratorium – a method of extracting natural gas from shale using pressurized liquids – on fracking in New York.

Martins supports the moratorium out of concern that the Department of Environmental Conservation, which received so many public comments for its environmental review, would not issue its findings until summer, when the legislature would be out of session.

A moratorium would "allow the legislature time to review the DECs' findings while a moratorium against fracking" is in place, the spokesman said. 

Do you support a one-year moratorium? Do you feel it's enough? Do you think Long Island would not be affected? Tell us in the comments. 

Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that a moratorium would be a first, in this instance, rather than an extension. The update is based on new information Patch received from a spokeswoman from the Department of Environmental Conservation, who said, "There has never been a moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing signed into law."