New York State is staring right at the answer to its financial woes: hydrofracking. At least that’s the opinion on Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “The damn answer is right there — grab it!” he told New York business executives last week.
Donohue, keynote speaker at annual meeting of The Business Council of New York State Inc. in Bolton Landing, NY, claimed developing the Marcellus Shale “already created hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars if government revenues in other states.” He warned that if New York doesn’t permit hydrofracking, the state “may be left behind.”
The pro-hydrofracking comments came as no surprise, given that the head of the Business Council — David Smith — is also the chairman and CEO of Natural Fuel Gas Co., headquartered in Erie County, New York. In July, the Chamber launched a pro-fracking “Shale Works for US” ad blitz. The campaign seeks to “humanize” the natural gas exploration debate, Karen Harbet, head of the Chamber’s energy efforts, told Reuters.